I see a lot of fintech startups but there is absolutely 0 money in providing basic bank accounts for paupers.
It's why companies like Revolut and Bunq always end up doing what ordinary banks are doing: upselling. Shitty insurance and expensive creditcards is where the money is. Also transaction fees up the wazoo.
Looking into it made me realize traditional banks aren't really evil- they are kept under tight government regulations that forces them to take any customer. Even the ones that make them no money. No I'll be sticking with €15 per year account.
> Looking into it made me realize traditional banks aren't really evil- they are kept under tight government regulations that forces them to take any customer. Even the ones that make them no money. No I'll be sticking with €15 per year account.
In the EU citizens have a right to a basic bank account that a bank has to give you (unless you were defrauding the bank etc), yes. Terms usually are not great, and details depend on the country.
In the US there is a not so hidden secret blacklist (actually a couple of them, different banks use different ones) where if you get on that blacklist the bank will refuse to open an account for you. Its an unaccountable list that unfairly prevents tons of people from needed banking services in this hyper-connected and hyper-financialized economy.
Also, a personal theory is that banks that provide high fee services for people in that black list (used to be called the chexx system or something similar) are much more likely to quickly put someone on it.
Various credit score systems played the same role here, and banks banning too many people despite always promising otherwise is what finally brought down the regulation hammer on them.
Is that by law? In the US, it's not legally mandatory to have a bank account, but it's expensive and painful to do things like cash paychecks if you don't -- which makes it effectively mandatory.
It's why companies like Revolut and Bunq always end up doing what ordinary banks are doing: upselling. Shitty insurance and expensive creditcards is where the money is. Also transaction fees up the wazoo. Looking into it made me realize traditional banks aren't really evil- they are kept under tight government regulations that forces them to take any customer. Even the ones that make them no money. No I'll be sticking with €15 per year account.