PYMNTS Daily Data Dive: Higher Bank Fees For Underserved

The sixth annual Financially Underserved Market Size report found that 67 million adults in the U.S. who bank are part of the underserved market. They don’t have bank accounts and paid as much as $141 billion in fees for various financial products last year.

The study found that those individuals have begun shifting some of their financial activity away from online payday firms and storefronts and into small business marketplace lenders. Marketplace loans jumped by as much as 210 percent, and payday loans across storefront and online conduits slipped by 23 percent.

The group’s financial activity totaled $1.6 trillion in terms of volume, up 4.3 percent over 2014. The underserved segment spent as much as $55 billion in longer-term credit fees and charges. And the rates they paid for auto insurance are rising, currently totaling $36.5 billion. Underserved drivers, on average, spend over 26 percent more than traditionally banked drivers for vehicles of a similar value.

Here are the numbers:

67 million | Number of U.S. adults in the underserved banking market
$141 billion | Value in fees the underserved category paid for financial products in 2015
210 percent | Year-over-year (YOY) increase in the number of marketplace loans
23 percent | YOY decrease in the number of payday loans
$1.6 trillion | Total volume of the underserved market’s financial activity
$55 billion | Value spent on longer-term credit fees and charges
$36.5 billion | Value paid for auto insurance
26 percent | Percent more underbanked drivers pay on auto loans than traditionally banked drivers