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Household Survey

2013 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households

The 2013 household survey results show that more than one in four households (27.7 percent) are either unbanked or underbanked, conducting some or all of their financial transactions outside of the mainstream banking system. Many of these households rely on alternative financial services (AFS) providers, while others use cash or other financial arrangements.

2013 Survey Results

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Key Findings and Implications from the 2013 Survey

Key Findings

  • 7.7 percent of households in the United States were unbanked in 2013. This proportion represented nearly 9.6 million households composed of approximately 16.7 million adults and 8.7 million children.
  • 20.0 percent of U.S. households were underbanked in 2013, meaning that they had a bank account but also used alternative financial services (AFS) outside of the banking system. Approximately 50.9 million adults and 16.6 million children lived in underbanked households.
  • The unbanked rate has varied from 7.6 percent in 2009 to 8.2 percent in 2011 and 7.7 percent in 2013.
    • The 0.5 percentage point decrease in the unbanked rate between 2011 and 2013 can be explained by differences in the economic conditions and demographic composition of households over this period.
    • In particular, compared to 2011, households in 2013 had slightly higher levels of employment and income, and were slightly older and better educated. These characteristics are all associated with a higher likelihood of having a bank account.
  • While relatively small proportions of U.S. households experienced major life events in the past year, households that transitioned in or out of the banking system were more likely to have experienced certain events:
    • Among households that recently became unbanked, 34.1 percent experienced either a significant income loss or a job loss that they said contributed to the household becoming unbanked.
    • Among households that recently became banked, 19.4 percent reported that a new job contributed to their opening a bank account.
  • Nearly eight percent (7.9) of all households used prepaid cards in the last 12 months.
    • Unbanked households had the highest rate of use: 22.3 percent of unbanked households used a prepaid card in the last 12 months, compared with 13.1 percent of underbanked households and 5.3 percent of fully banked households.
  • A majority of prepaid card users were unbanked and underbanked households. More than half (55.0 percent) of the households that used prepaid cards in the last 12 months and two-thirds (66.6 percent) of the households that used prepaid cards in the last 30 days were unbanked or underbanked.
  • Most banked households (71.1 percent) used multiple methods to access their bank accounts.
  • Many households used bank tellers to access their bank account. Nearly four out of five households (78.8 percent) used a bank teller in the past 12 months, one in three (32.2 percent) used bank tellers as their primary method of account access, and 17.5 percent used bank tellers as their only method of account access.
  • Use of online banking was also quite common. Over half (55.1 percent) of banked households accessed their account online in the past 12 months, and one in three (32.9 percent) used online banking as their primary means of account access. Underbanked households were less likely to have used online banking as their main banking method (26.6 percent) compared with fully banked households (35.1 percent).
  • Among households that primarily used either online or mobile banking, use of additional methods was common. For example, households that primarily used online banking used a median of two additional methods to access their account while those that primarily relied on mobile banking used a median of three additional methods. One commonly used additional method was bank tellers, which were used by more than 70 percent of both groups.
  • Overall, 23.2 percent of banked households used mobile banking in the last 12 months, and a greater share of underbanked households (29.2 percent) than fully banked households (21.7 percent) had used mobile banking.
    • Among mobile banking users, underbanked households were considerably more likely (32.4 percent) than the fully banked (21.6 percent) to use mobile banking as their main banking method. In contrast, fully banked mobile banking users were significantly more likely (54.2 percent) to use online banking as their main banking method than the underbanked (38.1 percent).
  • Monitoring of account balance or recent transactions was the most common mobile banking activity (86.0 percent of mobile banking users). Only a quarter (25.5 percent) of households that used mobile banking used it to deposit a check. Underbanked households were more likely (51.5 percent) to have used mobile text alerts than fully banked households (44.6 percent).

Implications

The 2013 survey results suggest implications for policymakers, financial institutions and other stakeholders who are working to improve access to mainstream financial services.

Last Updated: October 25, 2022