Holding a bank account is crucial to the income-maximizing and asset-building of households. This study uses 2008 survey data of EITC-eligible households assisted at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites to document their tax filing behavior and use of Alternate Financial Services (AFS). Specifically, the differences in tax filing and AFS…

Finance students today live in the midst of an enormous financial crisis. Institutions both large and small are failing or being rescued through government intervention. This environment presents a host of learning opportunities for instructors as well as students. This paper discusses financial autopsies as a form of experiential learning…

Over the past few decades, the cost of tuition, room, and board for undergraduate students has increased, making it more difficult for some students and families to afford the cost of college. While students have historically relied on federal loans and grants and family contributions to pay for college, a growing number have turned to private…

In the financial services sector in Germany the proportion of trainees qualified to go on to university is particularly high. But what induces school leavers not to go (straight) to university? A written survey of over 500 trainees in the banking and insurance sectors examined the motivations for the choice of educational pathway. Only some of the…

As the world economy continues to evolve, businesses and industries must adopt new practices and processes in order to survive. Quality and cost control, work teams and participatory management, and an infusion of technology are transforming the way people work and do business. Employees are now expected to read, write, and communicate…

The article contributes to a better understanding of implications of scaling up on the social mission of microfinance programs. It proposes a methodology to measure the extent, if any, to which a microfinance program with a poverty alleviation mission drifts away from its mission during rapid scaling up and presents findings from a field research…

This article shows that, after decades of inequality, the 1990s saw sudden and dramatic increases in lending to low income and minority groups. Drawing in part on the work of Williams, Nesiba and McConnell (2005), we argue that government deregulation, industry restructuring and government-insured loans all fueled this growth by increasing the…

Discusses how banks brave enough to go against conventional wisdom, which says that customers should pay for everything, could end up with greater profits and more customer satisfaction by exchanging free minimum services for minimum reasonable balances. (RM)

In the deregulatory fervor of the 1980's, the distinction between banks, nonbank depositories, and nondepository firms is becoming less clear as each tries to expand its activities in the emerging financial services industry. (RM)

Describes the alternative financial sector, which provides low-income consumers with a range of services such as rental-purchase agreements, pawn shops, refund anticipation loans, postdated checks, money orders, and check cashing outlets. (JOW)

Technologies of payment rather than technologies of connection are the real trigger for the expansion of electronic commerce on the Internet. This article discusses "smart cards," highlighting Mondex, the electronic purse developed in the United Kingdom. Predicts that cash will be replaced by "e-cash," which is cheaper to make,…

A survey of 194 black households in a Chicago neighborhood found that one in five did not use banks, 49% had credit cards, over 75% used alternative financial services (AFS), and many used informal financial networks. Nonbank and AFS users tended to be lower income, less educated, younger, and unmarried people. Consumer education and public policy…

The publication was produced in cooperation with the New York State Banking Department and is intended primarily as a teaching module to introduce high school students to how banks operate and how consumers can make best use of a bank's services. There is no assumption of prior banking experience or knowledge. In addition to some brief notes to…

Competition for savings dollars has led to free gift bonus offers as incentive for new deposits. A concise new formula presented here permits calculation of the total yield using an inexpensive minicomputer. Yield is expressed in terms of interest rate, effective discount value of gift bonus, and period of deposit. (Author/MA)

Deregulation has had much to do with the competitive drive and vitality of financial services within the United States. The risks and rewards of deregulation for financial institutions are discussed, and principles which should serve as a guide in building any new regulatory structure are examined. (RM)