Regardless of your socioeconomic status, a bank account can be extremely important. While many in the lower classes assume that having a bank account isn’t necessary because of their lack of any real funds, this way of thinking, could be one that essentially keeps them lower class.
There are many advantages to having a bank account. The main advantage obviously is the safety of your money. By having the money on your person at all times, you are leaving yourself open to the risk of theft, losing your money, or even spending it carelessly during a shopping binge. If you keep the money in an account, specifically a savings account, it becomes less accessible and obviously harder for you to blow on things that you really don’t need. Which is important if you have far less money to go around than others.
Another advantage is that you really need a place to cash your checks. If you are getting paid, they most likely aren’t going to pay you in cash, so you are going to have to find a place that will take care of your checks. While there are numerous check cashing locations around every community, the reality is that you are paying a great deal just to have the money you have earned. You could be paying as much as $8 per $100 at some locations, depending upon your risk to that business. This means that if you make $400, you just gave them $32 of that. That’s free money that you should be keeping and by having a bank account, you wouldn’t have to pay that out each pay check. This of course means that you would have more money for your own bills and personal spending. It could also be the difference between staying in debt or having a way to pay your way out of debt and move into the next economic class.
The reality is that just because you don’t have a lot of money, doesn’t mean that a bank isn’t right for you. They provide so many benefits that carrying cash around on you and using check cashing locations just can’t match up with. The problem is that most poor that use these services, just don’t logically think about the use of them, and continue to allow their money to be wasted for months or years, sometimes their entire lifetime before realizing that the bank is a better alternative.