Is Chime or other similar fintechs who aren't going to extend credit for overdraft and similar on a deposit account not an option? In my activist social work, I find it continually getting easier to get the unbanked banked, including finding them accounts with orgs that support Zelle for instant funds transfers [1].

People keep arguing crypto when internal fiat is likely to end up as central bank digital wallets [2] and cross border transfers will be facilitated by fintechs like TransferWise, with central banks essentially assuming more and more of the cross border infra over time [3].

Anecdote: A friend needed financial help due to COVID, and I was able to get their Citi deposit account setup with Zelle in ~2 minutes and send them cash from our reserves. The transfer was effectively instantaneous. IMHO, the problem isn't the transfer mechanism, it's ensuring that everyone has a a bank account [4].

[1] https://www.zellepay.com/get-started

[2] https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/econographics/the-rise...

[3] https://asiatimes.com/2020/12/cross-border-payments-on-horiz...

[4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25262480

In my country, at least, having a bank account is a right. You walk into a bank, say that you want an account and they open it on the spot, no questions asked (aside from a mailing address, but you can get that one even when you’re homeless).

The only time they will ask you questions is if you start with putting in huge amounts of money fast - then AML applies.

I know there is an issue with unbanked population in US, but it’s a regulatory one - it doesn’t have to be that way.