HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A personal bank account is what some people use to collect, store, and keep track of their money.
Approximately 16% of Harris County residents don’t have a personal checking or savings account, according to Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
Some neighborhoods have a higher concentration of people who are “unbanked,” according to the study.
“There are some neighborhoods within Harris County where 1 in 3 residents are unbanked,” Daniel Potter, the director of the Houston Population Research Center at Rice University, said.
Researchers explained why those data points matter.
“Think about things like your debit card, checks, or a checking account, having that ability to build credit and credit scores, and those have very real implications for loans that people can take out. And those loans are going to be used to purchase cars or homes,” Potter said.
Certain groups within the Harris County population are more likely to lack a bank account.
“In the people who tend to be unbanked, you’re going to see a high proportion of Hispanic residents being unbanked, then you are, say, Asian or white residents, with black residents being sort of in the middle, between those groups,” Potter said.
Potter explained the varying reasons why people lack a bank account.
“You also have issues around documentation. ‘Do people have the right licenses and other different forms of ID that would be needed to set up a bank account?'” Potter said. “Then, the third one is just around. Trust that for many residents, there is a lack of trust in financial institutions.”
There are local programs available to help people open a bank account.
“Bank on Houston is a program that the city has. It is partnering with local banks in order to be able to try to get more people into some sort of checking or savings account. It’s done through sort of helping to set up incentives for people to come in,” Potter said.
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