# Unbanked
The *unbanked* is a term for individuals who lack access to traditional financial services and normal [bank](bank.md).

The most commonly cited reasons for being unbanked are:

1. Insufficient funds to maintain a minimum account balance
2. Lack of domestic banks, or untrustworthy banks with suboptimal [safety](deposit-insurance.md) regarding customer [deposits](deposit.md).
3. Lack of government identification or proof of residency needed to pass [KYC](kyc.md) checks to open an account.``

See also [predatory inclusion](predatory-inclusion.md).

## References
1. Howson, P., & de Vries, A. (2022). Preying on the poor? Opportunities and challenges for tackling the social and environmental threats of cryptocurrencies for vulnerable and low-income communities. Energy Research and Social Science, 84(xxxx), 102394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102394
1. Koning, J. P. (2020). Bitcoin Financial Literacy and Crypto-Twitter. In American Institute for Economic Research. https://www.aier.org/article/bitcoin-financial-literacy-and-crypto-twitter/
1. Aitken, R. (2017). ‘All data is credit data’: Constituting the unbanked. Competition and Change, 21(4), 274–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/1024529417712830
1. Babu, A. (2020). Behind the Veil of Decentralization: Analyzing Blockchain Frames and Sponsors in US News. In SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3749482
1. Chen, Y., & Bellavitis, C. (2020). Blockchain disruption and decentralized finance: The rise of decentralized business models. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2019.e00151
1. Crandall, J. (2019). Cryptoeconomic Geographies and Contestation in Puerto Rico [PhD Thesis]. In Thesis (Issue May). http://jilliancrandall.net/cryptoeconomic-geographies-and-contestation-in-pr/
1. Greeley, B. (2019). Facebook’s Libra will not help the unbanked. Financial Times, 18.
1. Kapsis, I. (2021). Should we trade market stability for more financial inclusion? The case of crypto-assets regulation in EU. FinTech, Artificial Intelligence and the Law: Regulation and Crime Prevention, 85–104. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003020998-9
1. Sen, A., Lindquist, J., & Kolling, M. (2020). Who’s Cashing in? Contemporary Perspectives on New Monies and Global Cashlessness (Vol. 19). Berghahn Books.
1. Swartz, L. (2020). New money: How payment became social media. Yale University Press. https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300233223/new-money
1. Vasudevan, R. (2020). Libra and Facebook’s Money Illusion. Challenge, 63(1), 21–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/05775132.2019.1684662