The Bank Staff Perspective on Reducing Financial Exclusion through Affordable Bank Accounts

In semi-structured in-depth interviews in one mid-western city with a high percentage of financially excluded consumers, 22 staff members from 15 banks describe their employer bank’s efforts to serve low- and moderate-income consumers. Six themes were found: (1) Banks are aware of the problem of financial exclusion; (2) Financial education poses challenges to deliver, and lacks outcomes; (3) Few rewards are evident for offering basic checking accounts; (4) Little advocacy pressure exists for affordable accounts; (5) Regulatory and other pressures fail to facilitate solutions; and (6) Solutions are a mix of policy, organizational capacity, and methods to influence consumer behavior.