This afternoon, I listened to a webinar produced by the Real Economic Impact Network regarding trends in banking by people with disabilities. It discussed the National Disability Institute’s (NDI) recent report, Banking Status and Financial Behaviors of Adults with Disabilities. The report was generated based upon the findings of the FDIC’s 2015 national survey.

Although it may not sound scintillating, banking issues have interested me since I finished Lisa Servon’s The Unbanking of America. Unbanking, or not having a bank account and instead using alternative resources to handle money, is not in and of itself a negative. In fact, if one has low income and few assets, refraining from the use of a bank account may be rational. However, not using mainstream banking services also comes with downsides, such as an inability to access lines of credit.

NDI’s report, unsurprisingly, finds that households in which at least one person has a disability are more likely to be unbanked or underbanked.  The exact number – 46% of households affected by disability – was larger than I expected. Moreover, the report determined that the particular type of disability affecting a household does not significantly influence the household’s banking status.

Another interesting section involved the manner in which households engage in financial transactions. While 71% of households without disability made electronic payments from their bank account, only 46% of households with disability did the same. This disparity remains statistically significant whether or not the household with a disability is unbanked or underbanked. To me, a person with a mobility disability, it is much easier to make financial transactions electronically. I expected it would also be easier and safer for individuals with other disabilities, such as visual impairments and intellectual disabilities. In fact, one of the worries discussed on today’s webinar was whether the trend to engage in even more banking online will adversely affect people with disabilities lacking the technology to participate.

The entire report is definitely worth reviewing. In addition to presenting the data, NDI also makes policy suggestions to improve the financial health of people with disabilities. For example, NDI suggests that ABLE accounts could serve as placeholders for those unable to access savings accounts by nature of means testing for public benefits. Check out the report and let me know what you think!