Are the unbanked bad people?

There are over 40 million unbanked workers. Expert studies have that these are not bad people or dead beats. The reasons for being unbanked are many but the most common are: insufficient identity or current address, bad experience with previous bank account, don't trust banks, live from paycheck to paycheck, bank accounts are too expensive. One of the big reasons is brand new and caused by the Patriot Act. Banks must now have complete verification of their customers. This starts with verifying your home address. If you've recently moved, the systems the bank uses will reject you. If you don't have a driver's license or you are a recent immigrant, you are usually denied a bank account. Another big reason is something called Check Systems. This is a banking industry "black list" which is not subject to the rules of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Banks will report you if you have had an account closed for cause or too many bounced checks. While I don't condone anyone abusing a bank account, there can be extenuating circumstances. For example, you sold a car and stupidly took a personal check as payment. It eventually bounces and you can't cover the overdraft at the bank immediately. This puts you into Check Systems database and there you will stay for at least 5 years. And, there is no way to argue with them. There is no recourse and most banks will not open an account for you if you are in Check Systems. If you are unbanked and you caused your own problem, I won't argue that you were wrong. What I blame on the banking industry is the manner in which people are treated. There is just no way to rehabilitate yourself and earn your way back to a bank account. My soapbox gets crowded sometimes but denying bank accounts is a peculiarly American situation. Governments in foreign countries recognize that people with bank accounts are less likely to evade taxes and more likely to be a good citizen. Even the Social Security Adm cannot convince the banks to open accounts for people so that their SS checks can be electronically deposited. When even the SS cannot get people badly needed bank accounts, something is very wrong.