Amid the call to banks to offer bank accounts that could help low-income households, Santander Bank has started offering a consumer checking account to serve the underbanked and help them achieve their financial goals.
East Cambridge Savings Bank has launched three products designed to help consumers access bank accounts and build credit.
Marlborough-based Digital Federal Credit Union, better known as DCU, has joined forces with three other credit unions to launch a challenger bank targeted at low- to moderate-income customers.
Berkshire Bank has joined the national Bank On initiative to reach unbanked and underbanked consumers by offering a checking account with no overdraft charges or monthly maintenance fees.
More Americans than ever obtained a basic bank account in 2019, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Monday. But data was gathered before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and start of this historic recession.
The coronavirus crisis shows the need for more banks and credit unions to help poor and working-class Massachusetts residents develop banking relationships, both bankers and advocates say.
One third of Bostonians live outside the traditional financial system, cutting them off from crucial financial tools like credit cards and savings accounts and helping to lock them out of economic mobility. To combat this Boston and Worcester, where numbers are similar, are partnering with financial institutions to offer checking accounts that are easier to access.
