By Scott Buchanan
Bitcoin Depot
Digital currency can be useful to a wide sector of the population across various financial backgrounds. Whether you like the freedom it gives you, the speed of the transactions, the privacy it affords or something else entirely, digital currency can provide many benefits.
An important group of individuals who can benefit greatly from the easy access digital currency provides is the underbanked.
There is an important distinction between the terms “unbanked” and “underbanked.” Individuals who are underbanked do have a household bank account, and they generally rely on nonbank financial services for many of their transactional needs, either by choice or necessity. That means they use services like PayPal, Venmo or CashApp to transfer funds, in many cases transacting entirely outside of their traditional bank account
The unbanked describes a group of people who are not served by a bank or other similar financial institution at all. Some people choose not to use a traditional finance (TradFi) bank, but others may not be able to access one for a variety of reasons including because they do not have enough cash for the initial deposit, or their credit does not allow them to, or another pre-existing factor prevents them from doing so.
According to a recent FDIC survey, about 14.1 percent of households, or 18.7 million people, in the United States are underbanked and therefore rely on something other than a bank account for their financial needs. These people could benefit from a digital currency solution.
There are a number of reasons why a person might be underbanked, including:
Using crypto to transact can be an useful option for someone who is underbanked, providing the following benefits:
According to CNBC, 1.4 billion people worldwide do not have bank accounts for various reasons. For anyone without a bank account, crypto allows them access to a viable banking alternative so they can still participate in the digital economy.
Not only that, but many banks will charge a fee if your account dips below the minimum requirement, costing you even more money. This is a huge problem for people of low socioeconomic status, and it could lead to even more financial struggles.
Unfortunately, the existing banking system has offered little in the way of help to the unbanked. There are many potential barriers that could prevent the unbanked from even opening up a basic account, including a lack of transparency from traditional financial institutions.
It does not help matters that some unbanked individuals have an inherent distrust of banks, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. This could leave them financially unstable. However, answers to these concerns and more may lie with crypto, which removes many of the obstacles that hinder the unbanked. With crypto, users have a wide variety of methods available to take control of their finances. 
Scott Buchanan serves as the COO of Bitcoin Depot (https://bitcoindepot.com), where he oversees day-to-day operations of the business as well as long-term strategic planning. In his role, Scott applies his long standing passion for solving complex problems and optimizing business processes to maximize results. He brings a strong professional background in accounting and finance, having previously worked as a manager for Acuity Brands and an assurance associate for KPMG. Scott is also a Certified Public Accountant with a master’s degree in accounting from Wake Forest University. Contact him at
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