Getting By Without a Checking Account

According to a survey by the FDIC, roughly 7.7%, or 9 million adults in the United States do not have bank accounts, or, as the report states, are "unbanked."

The highest percentage is among Afro-Americans and Hispanics, at 21.7% and 19.3%, respectively, with Whites at the lower end of the unbanked population at a mere 3.3%.

Naturally, paying bills and doing everyday shopping is difficult these days without a debit or credit card, much less a checking account.

Into the fray jumps Green Dot Corporation, which provides retail based financial services for this largely underserved community with offerings such as My Green Dot, providing reloadable prepaid MasterCard or Visa cards that people can use for paying bills, shopping and other day-to-day needs or financial transactions.

My Green Dot is a web-based application site which can be accessed from any computer or mobile phone, where customers can check balances, add funds or have government checks directly deposited into their accounts.

Green Dot Corporation also operates domestic cash-acceptance networks that offer prepaid card reloading among other services to individuals, banks and financial service companies.

The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Monrovia, California.

Now, getting by without a checking account has become less of a chore and more of a technologically-driven benefit to those who opt for a less-traditional route.