Master Your Card: Oportunidad to Host Panel on Financial Inclusion Opportunities at LULAC National Convention

USA - English

• Latin America - español

WHAT:

Media are invited to attend a panel discussion hosted by Master Your Card: Oportunidad, a national public education coalition that helps strengthen Latino communities through the benefits of using credit, prepaid and debit cards.

Panelists Carlos Menendez, Group Executive of Global Consumer Products, MasterCard; Sandra Jauregui, Director, Community Development and Partnerships, Financial Guidance Center; and a small business owner will discuss how electronic payment technologies can help Latino consumers and business owners get more from their money by moving out of the cash economy and into the digitally connected world. They will also highlight new product solutions that eliminate historical barriers to financial inclusion and lead to greater economic opportunity.

Manny Diaz, former mayor of Miami and current Master Your Card: Oportunidad advisory board member, will moderate the session.

WHEN/WHERE: 

Friday, June 21 at 9:15 a.m. PDT at the 84^th Annual League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) National Convention & Exposition in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel & Casino

WHY:

A disproportionate number of Latino households in the United States are either underbanked or unbanked, meaning they have little to no access to mainstream financial banking system. Instead, they rely on alternative financial services like check-cashing services and payday lenders that often charge exorbitant fees.

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC) National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households released in 2012, 28.6 percent of Latino households are underbanked and 20.1 percent are unbanked. Nearly 52 percent of Latinos use alternative financial services in any given 30-day period.

These unbanked and underbanked rates for Latino households are higher than any other ethnic group. In contrast, 8.2 percent of all U.S. households are unbanked, while 20.1 percent are underbanked.