Connecting Communities: Bridging the Gap: Empowering Underbanked Communities with Instant Payments
November 5 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST
Access to affordable, reliable payment services is essential to household financial stability—yet many consumers still face barriers. Today, 14.2 percent of US households are considered underbanked, meaning they rely on alternative nonbank financial products even though they have a bank account. This gap presents an opportunity for financial institutions and community development organizations to design solutions that better meet consumers’ needs. One promising avenue is instant payments, which can help replace costly, less‑regulated alternatives.
To support this work, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has developed the Financial Inclusion Resource Center, an online hub offering data, insights, and tools to help institutions understand underbanked populations and strengthen their payment strategies. The Center features a new, national level interactive data tool that highlights the geographic distribution of underbanked households, along with survey findings that shed light on why consumers turn to high‑cost nonbank services. These insights can help financial institutions communicate the benefits of instant payment products and tailor offerings to the communities they serve.
During this webinar, participants will benefit from a range of informative conversations designed to deepen their understanding of financial inclusion and instant payments:
- Interactive Data Tool Demonstration: Attendees will see a live demonstration of the new interactive data tool, which provides valuable insights into the geographic distribution and characteristics of underbanked households.
- Instant Payments Discussion: The webinar will feature a discussion on how instant payments serve as a viable solution for replacing expensive nonbank payment services, highlighting their potential to improve affordability and accessibility.
- FedNow Insights: Participants will gain practical perspectives on instant payments from FedNow’s Nerissa Aslantas, exploring real-world applications and implications for financial institutions.
- Financial Institution Perspective: A practitioner from a consortium of financial institutions will share their experience, explaining why the data tool and other available datasets focused on underbanked populations are crucial to delivering responsive financial services and building partnerships between banks, non-profits, and government.
Related resources:
Speakers
Jason Andrade
Director of Research and Membership Engagement
Partnership for Financial Equity
Nerissa Aslantas
Product Senior Manager
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Brian Clarke
Deputy Director
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Sergio Galeano (moderator)
Community & Economic Development Advisor
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Presented by
Location
About Connecting Communities®
Real people. Real research. Real conversations.
Connecting Communities is a Federal Reserve-sponsored webinar series providing timely information on community and economic development issues. It complements Fed community development outreach initiatives conducted through the 12 regional Reserve Banks and Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Have questions about the program? Contact us.
