underbanked

1 of 2

adjective

un·​der·​banked ˌən-dər-ˈbaŋ(k)t How to pronounce underbanked (audio)
: not using or having access to a full range of banking options
[The survey] also measures how many households are underbanked, meaning they have a bank account but look outside the banking system to meet transaction or credit needs.FDIC
Workers who live from paycheck to paycheck can easily slide from the traditional banking world to the underbanked world and then to the unbanked.Mikki Kendall

underbanked

2 of 2

noun

: a person or group of people who do not utilize or have access to a full range of banking options
As online transactions become ubiquitous, life has become more challenging for those who rely on cash: the unbanked, those who don't or can't access banking and financial services, and the underbanked, those who don't make full use of such services.Jackie Benton
Now he [Michael Broughton, CEO of Altro] wants to empower the underbanked, and eventually folks without any bank account at all, to have more financial power.Sara Bloomberg

Examples of underbanked in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Adjective
That regulatory hesitance has spurred a boom in e-wallets and digital banks across the Asia-Pacific region, as companies target unbanked and underbanked populations in developing markets. Chris Morris, Fortune Asia, 5 Nov. 2024 Harris, by contrast, offers a vision centered on economic opportunity for middle-class and underbanked families, aiming to support a balanced regulatory approach that nurtures innovation without sacrificing consumer protections. Tonya Evans, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024 LPMs are fundamentally more convenient, and as our report shows, that’s doubly true in countries where the population is comparatively underbanked and where mobile payments are king. Stuart Neal, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024 The company’s Angeleno Connect program in Los Angeles, launched in 2020, has successfully reduced government costs of providing resources to unbanked and underbanked people in the city. Julie Samuels, New York Daily News, 9 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for underbanked 

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

under entry 1 + banked, past participle of bank entry 4

Noun

derivative of underbanked entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1845, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1995, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of underbanked was in 1845

Dictionary Entries Near underbanked

Cite this Entry

“Underbanked.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/underbanked. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

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