FDIC: 8.2 pct of US households lack bank accounts

[September 13, 2012]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- A government survey shows about 821,000 U.S. households lost access to basic banking services between January 2009 and June 2011.

Roughly 10 million U.S. households, or 8.2 percent, have no access to bank accounts, according to a survey conducted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. That's up from 7.7 percent in the FDIC's 2009 survey.

And an even larger percentage of Americans are relying on high-interest alternatives, even those with traditional bank accounts. The survey found 28.3 percent either lacked bank accounts or used payday loans, check-cashing services and other alternatives as of June 2011. That's up from 25.6 percent in the previous survey.

The survey found 21.4 percent of black families and 20.1 percent of Hispanic families had no banking services.

[Associated Press; By MARCY GORDON]

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