Each depositor insured to at least $250,000 per insured bank

The FDIC is committed to ensuring that consumers have access to basic banking and other financial services as well as to developing more and better data about unbanked and underbanked households and factors that hinder them from fully utilizing the mainstream financial system. In line with this commitment, Congress mandated in Section 7 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Conforming Amendments Act of 2005 ("Reform Act"), that the FDIC conduct periodic surveys of banks' efforts to bring individuals and families into the conventional finance system.

Consequently, during 2011 and part of 2012, the FDIC conducted a second nationwide survey of FDIC-insured depository institutions (headquarters) to assess their efforts to serve unbanked and underbanked individuals and families. This survey focuses on banks’ basic transaction and savings account programs, auxiliary product and service offerings, financial education and outreach efforts, and perceived challenges as obstacles in offering financial products and services to unbanked and underbanked consumers.The FDIC retained Gallup to administer the 2011-12 secure Internet survey.

The findings will help banks improve their abilities to meet the diverse financial needs of US households and will inform the FDIC's continuing economic inclusion efforts.

The report, 2011 FDIC Survey of Banks’ Efforts to Serve the Unbanked and Underbanked, was released December 13, 2012. For any questions or concerns about the survey, please contact unbanked-banksurvey@fdic.gov.

2011 Report (All files are in PDF format. See PDF Help for assitance.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Survey Instrument

2008 Bank Survey

Link to 2008 Bank Survey Page

Related FDIC Initiatives

National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households

EconomicInclusion.gov

Model Safe Accounts Pilot

Small-Dollar Loan Pilot Program

Money Smart

Alliance for Economic Inclusion