Almost a half million Colorado households short on banking services

Although a higher percentage of households in Colorado are served by banks, there are still many with inadequate banking services.

Although a higher percentage of households in Colorado are served by banks than in the U.S as a whole, there are still many with inadequate banking services.

Almost 500,000 households in Colorado either are unbanked or underbanked, shows a new federal government report.

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog about how more than one out of every four households in the U.S. is either unbanked or underbanked in the U.S., according to a report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. That is, they either do not have banking accounts or do not have adequate banking services.

“Access to an account at a federally insured institution provides households with an important first step toward achieving financial security – the opportunity to conduct basic financial transactions, save for emergency and long-term security needs, and access credit on affordable terms,” said Sheila Bair, Chairman of the FDIC.

Colorado fares better than the national average.

While 25.6 percent of the national households are either unbanked or underbanked, in Colorado the total is 22.2 percent, 13.3 percent lower than the national average.

Still, that means a lot of people in Colorado do not have access to banks.

Colorado stats

In Colorado, 445,000 are either unbanked or underbanked, according to the FDIC . Of those, 6.9 percent of the Colorado households are unbanked, which the FDIC estimates represents 138,000 households. That compares to a national average of 7.7 percent. And 15.3 percent of Colorado households – 307,000 – are underbanked. Nationally, 17.9 percent of the households are underbanked.

One man’s story

Daniel Berkowitz, 35, of Denver, is one of them.

Berkowitz has about 50 hours of college credits, but never got a degree.

He works with his hands and he can build or fix anything.

He has supervised construction projects including $1 million homes, restaurants, additions, and retail.

But lately, he has been only able to pick up small, one-off construction jobs.

“I don’t have a bank account right now, because I just don’t have a lot of income,” Berkowitz said. “I have in the past, when I was working steady. ”

Berkowitz, who is looking to return to school to get an engineering degree, said the banking fees and required minimum balances is keeping him from using banking services.

Berkowitz, as far as income, serves as a microcosm of the unbanked.

In Colorado, 21.5 percent of the households with an annual income of $30,000 or less, are unbanked – more than three times the overall rate.

And the less education you have, the more likely you will not have adequate banking services. In Colorado, 61.4 percent of those without high school degrees are either unbanked or underbanked.

A large number of minorities – in Colorado and across the country – also are unbanked or under banked. In Colorado, 24.7 percent of Hispanics, 22.0 percent of blacks and 12.3 of other minority households are unbanked.