4/11/2023 0 Comments Move money from walmart moneyvaultTogether, the unbanked and underbanked make up 27.7% of U.S. About 24.8 million households were considered underbanked, meaning they have an account but use alternative financial services, like payday loans, check cashers, prepaid debit cards and auto title loans. In 2013, nearly 9.6 million American households (7.7%) didn't have access to basic financial services - they don't have an account at an FDIC-insured financial institution - either because of where they live or as a result of past financial troubles, according to the 2014 FDIC report on unbanked and underbanked Americans. Before we dive into the implications of getting your tax refund within the same walls that contain millions of dollars' worth of consumer goods, let's focus on that first part: cheap, easy access to financial tools. Of course, it also can't hurt to have customers handling their finances in the same place they shop. It's a nice idea, and there's plenty of truth to it. "We're taking products that are often costly and confusing and making them simple and affordable." "We're on a mission to use our size and scale to solve problems for our customers," said Molly Blakeman, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman. Wal-Mart's public stance on offering financial services to its customers is very much aligned with everything else it does: We make it easy to save money, the company says. Whether or not that's a good idea is a controversial topic. Still, you could function pretty well in our diverse economy using just the financial services offered by the mega-retailer. Wal-Mart, however, isn't a bank, and according to a company spokeswoman, it doesn't want to be one. (Anyone can sign up for a GoBank mobile checking account online, but Wal-Mart is the only retailer with the starter kits - they cost $2.95.) You can quite literally throw a checking account in your shopping cart. You can even purchase a GoBank mobile checking account "starter kit" at Wal-Mart, an FDIC-insured product from GreenDot Bank. You can get credit cards, prepaid debit cards, money transfers, check printing, check cashing, tax preparation and auto insurance through Wal-Mart's Mone圜enter. The big box retailer's foray into financial services doesn't stop there, however. This may be cheaper than paying to deposit a paper check (if you don't have a bank account) or requesting a refund through a prepaid debit card, which often involves a handful of fees. Taxpayers going through one of the 25,000 tax preparation locations using Direct2Cash software can choose to receive their cash refunds in Wal-Mart stores for a maximum fee of $7. 20, is Wal-Mart Direct2Cash, which allows customers to pick up their tax refund - in cash - from Wal-Mart. The most recent addition to Wal-Mart's suite of financial services, announced Jan. If you're more of a self-checkout person, there's the Mone圜enter Express terminal: Conveniently located steps away from the Redbox stand, this kiosk spits out prepaid debit cards like a vending machine. ![]() It's odd to think you might ask the cashier to throw in a prepaid debit card with your Us Weekly, but that's certainly how it's designed. At a Wal-Mart Express in Chicago, the price list for Mone圜enter products hangs adjacent to the cigarette display.
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