Vicente Gonzalez: “I rise in support of H.R. 522. I believe this bill makes important changes to the deposit insurance system to improve…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 522. I believe this bill makes important changes to the deposit insurance system to improve its effectiveness and increases incentives for people to save. I wish to particularly speak in support of the provision in this bill that will require the FDIC to report annually on efforts by insured institutions to increase their deposit base by encouraging unbanked households to enter the conventional finance system and to avail themselves of bank accounts and other conventional services offered by depository institutions. Unbanked families as defined by this provision are those individuals who rarely, if ever, held a checking account or savings account or other type of conventional account in an insured depository institution. Mr. Chairman, too many families lack access to basic fundamental services. It is currently estimated that nearly 10 million American families are unbanked. Unfortunately, for unbanked families there are no real financial alternatives but payday lenders or check cashers, which is often the worst form of financing for a struggling American family. The Hispanic community particularly struggles with high rates of unbanked families.”