unbanked
Without financial accounts
Unbanked describes people who lack access to traditional banking services—no checking account, no savings account, no credit cards.
The term appears in discussions of financial inclusion and poverty: Many unbanked households rely on check-cashing services.
The underbanked have accounts but still depend on alternative financial services.
Lacking full financial services
- microfinanceSmall loans for poor entrepreneurs
- microcreditSmall loans to entrepreneurs
- savingsAccumulated money kept
- remittancesPayments sent abroad
Written proof or instructions
Informal secondhand goods venue
- hawkerRoving vocal merchant
- odd-jobsMiscellaneous small tasks
- self-employedWorking independently, not hired
- subsistenceMinimal means of living
Currency in bill form
- cash-in-handPayment in physical currency
- under-the-tableSecret and unofficial
- off-the-booksUnrecorded for tax purposes
Earning below average wages
- migrantsPeople who move elsewhere
- refugeesPeople seeking safety elsewhere
- undocumentedNot officially recorded
- homelessWithout a dwelling
smallholders · elderly · disabled · indigenous · women · youth · stateless
underbanked
Lacking full financial services
- microfinanceSmall loans for poor entrepreneurs
- microcreditSmall loans to entrepreneurs
- savingsAccumulated money kept
documentation
Written proof or instructions
flea-market
Informal secondhand goods venue
- hawkerRoving vocal merchant
- odd-jobsMiscellaneous small tasks
- self-employedWorking independently, not hired
subsistence · barter · trade · hustle
paper-money
Currency in bill form
- cash-in-handPayment in physical currency
- under-the-tableSecret and unofficial
- off-the-booksUnrecorded for tax purposes
low-income
Earning below average wages
- migrantsPeople who move elsewhere
- refugeesPeople seeking safety elsewhere
- undocumentedNot officially recorded
homeless · smallholders · elderly · disabled · indigenous · women · youth · stateless
e-inclusion
Universal technology access
- connectivityState of being linked
- microfinancemicrocredit, small loans, microloan, microloans, group lending
- alternative financecrowdfunding, microfinance, microlending, peer-to-peer lending, DeFi
- financial biasredlining, credit denial, loan denial, fair lending, interest rates