Better Banking
Lisa Servon explains how working in a check-cashing facility in the Bronx informed her efforts to improve financial services for poor Americans. "Poor people know best what they need. It is not the policy makers and the researchers."
NPR Fresh Air
Lisa Servon goes on Fresh Air to discuss her perspective on why a growing number of Americans are giving up on traditional banks and are instead using alternatives. "There's this kind of attitude that if you don't use a bank account or if you don't only use a bank account, then you are somehow deficient in some way. And that didn't make a lot of sense to me when I thought about this whole problem."
Professor Lisa Servon’s research was featured in documentary, Spent: Looking for Change, a film about everyday Americans without the financial options most of us take for granted and the movement giving them renewed hope.
Life in the Cash Economy for "Underbanked" Americans
Nearly 20% of low income US households are "underbanked," according to the FDIC. But is providing access to traditional, mainstream financial services the best solution for everyone? A professor does double duty as a New York City check casher and discovers that banks might not be the best choice for everyone.
Why 56 million Americans have no bank account: Not what you think
University of Pennsylvania Professor Lisa Servon explains why 56 million Americans are turning to alternative financial services, like payday loans and check cashers.