2024 APPAM Fall Research Conference

Join NCRC Senior Director of Research Jason Richardson at the 2024 APPAM Fall Research Conference on Saturday, November 23. He will be speaking on the panel, “Cross-Cutting Roundtable – Disappearing Branches: Confronting the Exclusion Crisis in America’s Banking Deserts.”

Description

Financial inclusion means ensuring basic banking and financial services are available and accessible to everyone, regardless of income. But what happens when your bank or credit union branch closes and its brick-and-mortar presence disappears? Banking deserts are becoming more common across the U.S. Branch closures accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic amplifies a financial inclusion gap predominately in rural areas. This results in various people — older adults, those with lower incomes, and other populations — who may lack FDIC and NCUA-insured banking accounts, and therefore must rely on alternative financial services to build wealth and sustain financial health. In this session, we will define and explore banking deserts, track trends in branch closures, provide an overview of the current banking desert landscape in the U.S., delve into the implications of banking deserts, including impacts on special populations and the rise of Fintech solutions and mobile banking in underserved areas, and consider the policy implications and solutions at the federal level that address banking deserts.

Speakers:

Jason Richardson, NCRC

Karen Kali, AARP Public Policy Institute

Alaina Barca, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Kennan Cepa, Financial Health Network

Kate Kramer, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau