Having access to and using checking and savings accounts and other financial products can help families save money, plan for the future, and build credit. Rates of underbanked and unbanked households may indicate limited access to resources, especially in low-income communities.

In 2017, slightly under 8% of households were unbanked and 19% were underbanked, both rates lower than in 2009 when they were 10% and 23% respectively. Arkansas rates were similar to those of the nation as a whole. Unlike Arkansas, national rates did not change much from their 2009 levels.

In terms of its percentage of unbanked or underbanked households, Arkansas was 39th in the nation, including the 50 states and Washington, D.C. This represents an improvement from 2015 when Arkansas ranked 42nd, and a further improvement from 2009 when Arkansas ranked 47th.

Rates were much higher among some groups, in 2015, the most recent year for which these estimates are available, 31% of black or African American households and 24% of Hispanic households were underbanked, compared to 17% of white households.

Un- or underbanked rates were over 40% in Monroe, Phillips, Chicot, Desha and Lee counties and below 22% in Saline, Baxter, Grant and Benton counties as of 2015, the most recent year for which these estimates are available.

Underbanked households are those that have a checking and/or a savings account but have used non-bank money orders, non-bank check-cashing services, non-bank remittances, payday loans, rent-to-own services, pawn shops or refund anticipation loans (RALs) in the past 12 months. Unbanked households have neither a checking nor savings account.

Prosperity Now's Scorecard estimates are used for county-level and race-ethnicity data. Please see the organization's methodology documents (https://scorecard.prosperitynow.org/methodology#household-wealth-local) for additional details on how these estimates are developed.