No abstract

Although mainstream banking institutions offer a suite of benefits to patrons, the proportion of U.S. households that are unbanked and underbanked remains persistently high. This study examines the spatial relationship between alternative financial service providers (AFSPs) and banks and neighborhood demographics in southeastern Pennsylvania. Results from spatial regression analyses reveal that AFSPs are disproportionately located in close proximity to neighborhoods with comparatively lower levels of educational attainment and higher rates of subprime mortgage lending, whereas banks are disproportionately located in close proximity to neighborhoods with comparatively higher levels of income and educational attainment and a lower percentage of minority residents. Key Words: bank access, economic inclusion, spatial regression, unbanked/underbanked, urban inequality., , ,, AFSPs , : , , , / ,Si bien los bancos comunes ofrecen a sus clientes regulares un portafolio de beneficios, la proporción de hogares de los EE.UU. que carecen de servicios bancarios, o que solo los utilizan parcialmente, se mantiene persistentemente alta. En este estudio se examinan las relaciones espaciales entre proveedores de servicios financieros alternativos (AFSPs) y bancos, y la demografía de vecindarios en el sudeste de Pensilvania. Los resultados obtenidos por análisis espaciales de regresión revelan que los AFSP se hallan desproporcionalmente localizados en estrecha proximidad a vecindarios con niveles de educación comparativamente más bajos y tasas más altas por préstamos hipotecarios de categoría no preferencial, en tanto que los bancos están desproporcionalmente localizados en proximidad cercana a vecindarios con niveles de ingreso y educación comparativamente más altos y con un porcentaje más bajo de residentes de minorías. Palabras clave: acceso bancario, inclusión económica, regresión espacial, servicio bancario pleno/servicio bancario parcial, desigualdad urbana.

This research addresses equity in geographic access to financial services. As financial products and services continue to become more accessible and affordable, many low-to moderate-income Americans remain unbanked and underbanked, relying instead upon informal, alterna-DUNHAM

Children's savings accounts (CSAs) have emerged as a promising intervention to improve educational outcomes, curtail rising student loan debt, and promote equality of opportunity. Numerous localized CSA programs have emerged in the last decade, and many are embedded within school systems. This study leverages novel data to investigate participation in one of the oldest and most well‐known CSA programs in the country: the San Francisco Kindergarten to College (K2C) Program in the San Francisco Unified School District. Spatial analysis of 21,617 accounts at 74 elementary schools reveals statistically significant differences in the rates of elementary schools' K2C account participation based on the concentrations of banks, credit unions, and alternative financial service providers—net controls for neighborhood demographics. Unless explicitly addressed, substantial variations in the financial service environment across neighborhoods could undermine participation in school‐based CSA programs for the very children these programs intend to support.