News release: “In January 2009, the FDIC sponsored a special supplement to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) to collect data on the number of U.S. households that are unbanked and underbanked, their demographic characteristics, and their reasons for being unbanked and underbanked. Teamed with the rich demographic and geographic data available through the CPS, this survey presents a wealth of previously unavailable data on unbanked and underbanked households are available at the national, state, and large metropolitan statistical area (MSA) levels. It is hoped that these survey results will help better inform policymakers and the industry about economic inclusion issues, and promote the goal of ensuring that all Americans have access to basic, safe, and affordable bank services…The proportion of U.S. households that are unbanked varies considerably among different racial and ethnic groups, with certain racial and ethnic minorities more likely to be unbanked than the population as a whole. Minorities more likely to be unbanked include blacks (an estimated 21.7 percent of black households are unbanked), Hispanics (19.3 percent), and American Indian/Alaskans (15.6 percent). Racial groups less likely to be unbanked are Asians (3.5 percent) and whites (3.3 percent).”