Lending circles

I’m so excited about this. In Forbes this month was an article about lending circles in the Mission District of San Francisco and what a positive impact it had on the credit ratings and savings habits of people who are traditionally underserved by traditional banks.  I LOVE this, I want to study it and replicate it.

Insurance and Unbanked? We shall see.

I found several recent articles that signal when the health care changes go into effect next year with the inevitable rise in people having insurance, a new challenge may arise for unbanked citizens. There are, as of 2011, 1 in 12 American households that are unbanked, (referring to people who do not have a formal relationship with a traditional financial institution like a bank or credit union), almost 10 million in total. There are many reasons households (including the over 28.2% that earn less than $15,000 a year) choose not to have a bank account, but some of the biggest reasons they don’t is because either 1)they don’t think they have enough money to warrant one, or 2)they just plain don’t want one.