The astonishing logic behind making use of check cashers and payday advances
Frequently regarded as predatory, the check cashing industry is booming. Lisa Servon wondered why lower-income individuals who had been struggling would cash checks in the place of getting a bank account, therefore she took employment as a cashier to learn. Just what she discovered — so it’s usually cheaper — may be the topic of her brand new guide, “The Unbanking of America.” Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.
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HARI SREENIVASAN:
Next: you will need some cash real fast?
Economics correspondent Paul Solman explores why, for many clients, the bet that is best is probably not the financial institution.
It is element of their regular series Making Sense of financial news.
JOE COLEMAN, President, RiteCheck:
And also this is East 138th Street, which in a variety of ways could be the Wall Street associated with Bronx. You’ve gotten a lot of economic companies over the road, bodegas. You’ve got tiny cash remitters.
PAUL SOLMAN:
And there is a pawn store, maybe not the sort of financier you’ll find from the Wall that is actual Street. But, hey, here is the Southern Bronx, poorest congressional region in America, where some 40 per cent of residents reside underneath the poverty line.
JOE COLEMAN:
The primary company from the road is RiteCheck, where we now have our economic service center.
PAUL SOLMAN:
Joe Coleman is president of the string of 14 shops into the Southern Bronx and Harlem. They’re going to cash your checks, spend your bills, transfer cash twenty four hours a day, 365 times per year. Something similar to half these customers are unbanked, meaning they usually have no bank account on function.
Jose Benitez is a construction specialist.
JOSE BENITEZ, (through interpreter):
Each time you visit a bank, there is a challenge. You lose time.
PAUL SOLMAN:
The lender takes a long time to cash checks, he claims.
GIRL:
Are you able to signal there for me personally, please? Read more →