New Report: Technology and Expanding Financial Markets

Posted by on June 28, 2002

[Community Development Banking listserv]

WASHINGTON, D.C. (06/27/02)–Recent changes in the financial services industry and financial technologies mean financial markets can profitably expand to reach the significant untapped market potential of lower-income consumers, according to a report released today by the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy and The Financial Services Roundtable.The report, “Banking on Technology: Expanding Financial Markets and Economic Opportunity,” funded by the Ford Foundation, provides an analysis of technologically driven advancements in the financial services industry and their implications for reaching new markets.

Among the findings: households with annual incomes less than $25,000 are estimated to have $175 billion in financial assets; “unbanked” consumers spend at least $4 billion on check cashing and bill payment services annually and new technologies are dramatically driving down the costs of delivering lower-income consumers financial services.

http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/es/urban/publications/weissbourdoppexsum.htm