The benefits of opening a bank account are outlined in a pilot of a new campaign unveiled Tuesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) in an effort, according to the agency, to expand financial inclusion.
According to the agency, the “#GetBanked” campaign pilot focuses on Houston and Atlanta, areas where – according to FDIC research – “Black and Hispanic households are disproportionately unbanked.”
Minority households are significantly more “unbanked” than are non-minority households, the FDIC said its research shows, with 13.8% of Black households and 12.2% of Hispanic households unbanked. By contrast, only 2.5% of White households are unbanked, the agency said.
The agency said that the ultimate goal of the campaign is to support financial empowerment by encouraging consumers to consider opening a checking account that can result in access to safer and lower-cost financial products.
The #GetBanked initiative, the FDIC said, began at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020 to inform consumers about how to open a bank account online and to facilitate the safe and timely distribution of economic impact payments through direct deposit.