Learning Objectives

​After this lesson, you should be able to:

• Explain who is typically unbanked and the reasons that they are unbanked

• Compare payroll and prepaid cards to debit and credit cards

• Detail the consequences of being unbanked

• Explore banking status in regions across the U.S.

High School Banking

​Are you banking yet?

Now that you are aware that over half of teenagers have some experience with a bank account. Read the following article , to learn more about opening a bank account while you are still in high school. Then be prepared to answer a few questions.

The Cost of Being Unbanked

Read about it

Being unbanked or underbanked means that you either don’t have access to or choose not to use a traditional bank which leads you to use services like payday loans and check cashers.  Read the article about being unbanked.  Then, answer the questions.

What is Pre-paid card?

And how does a pre-paid card work?

Due to the cashless nature of today’s world, many who are unbanked rely on prepaid cards to complete transactions.  Read the article on prepaid cards.  Then, answer the questions.

Payroll Cards

​An Alternative to Direct Deposit?

Instead of issuing paper paychecks that you would have to go to a bank to deposit, employers are mostly using direct payment to a bank account.  But what if you don’t have an account to deposit your pay into? Read the article about payroll cards.  Then, answer the questions.

Banking Status by Region

​Interactive: What is the banking status is your region? 30 minutes

Now that we know what it means to be unbanked, let’s explore the banking status in regions across the U.S. Follow the directions on the worksheet to complete this activity.