un·der·banked
ˌən-dər-ˈbaŋ(k)t 
: not using or having access to a full range of banking options
[The survey] also measures how many households are underbanked, meaning they have a bank account but look outside the banking system to meet transaction or credit needs.—
FDIC
FDICWorkers who live from paycheck to paycheck can easily slide from the traditional banking world to the underbanked world and then to the unbanked.—Mikki Kendall
Mikki Kendall
: a person or group of people who do not utilize or have access to a full range of banking options
As online transactions become ubiquitous, life has become more challenging for those who rely on cash: the unbanked, those who don't or can't access banking and financial services, and the underbanked, those who don't make full use of such services.—Jackie Benton
Jackie BentonNow he [Michael Broughton, CEO of Altro] wants to empower the underbanked, and eventually folks without any bank account at all, to have more financial power.—Sara Bloomberg
Sara BloombergExamples of underbanked in a Sentence
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Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 13 Jan. 2026
On the demand side, the U.S. is a vast market with a sizable underbanked population, a big remittance corridor and relatively high crypto adoption.
—Kevin Williams, CNBC, 10 Jan. 2026
People’s support of cash usage and acceptance spans the political and income spectrum, said Thinnes, with some wanting the choice to protect their privacy and others noting the 25 million American households who are unbanked or underbanked and don’t have access to non-cash methods of payments.
—Betty Lin-Fisher, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
However, this approach can fail the underbanked who don’t have an existing file against which their information can be validated.
—Akhil Gupta, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
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Adjective
Many traditional lenders also rely on credit bureaus, which don’t cover many underbanked people, again denying them access to financing.
—Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 13 Jan. 2026
On the demand side, the U.S. is a vast market with a sizable underbanked population, a big remittance corridor and relatively high crypto adoption.
—Kevin Williams, CNBC, 10 Jan. 2026
People’s support of cash usage and acceptance spans the political and income spectrum, said Thinnes, with some wanting the choice to protect their privacy and others noting the 25 million American households who are unbanked or underbanked and don’t have access to non-cash methods of payments.
—Betty Lin-Fisher, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
However, this approach can fail the underbanked who don’t have an existing file against which their information can be validated.
—Akhil Gupta, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for underbanked
Cite this Entry
“Underbanked.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/underbanked. Accessed 27 Jan. 2026.
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