Join us for an eye-opening conversation with Marquita Robertson, a passionate advocate for financial empowerment and the need for accessible, safe, and affordable banking options. Tiffany and Marquita delve deep into the challenges faced by the unbanked and underbanked communities and provide actionable insights on how to navigate these obstacles.

About Our Guest

Marquita Robertson is a lifelong financial capability advocate. She is the executive director of The Collaborative, an organization focused on closing the racial wealth gap in North Carolina through collaborations with financial institutions, nonprofits, and local government agencies to educate people about building wealth and advocate on behalf of financially vulnerable communities.

Prior to that she was the Financial Education Director for the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer. There she led the Department’s financial education initiatives across the state, working with state agencies, schools, nonprofits and financial institutions.

Marquita started her career in financial capability at the American Bankers Association (ABA) in the mid-2000s. And for nearly 20-years she has managed wealth building programs that impower and educate individuals in all facets of money management.

Appointed twice by Gov. Roy Cooper, Marquita is serving her second term as Board of Trustee for the NC ABLE 529 program. She was also appointed by former Gov. McCrory to Chair the N.C. Financial Literacy Council, which guides statewide financial literacy standards and provide recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly regarding financial education. She also serves as a Board of Director for the United Way of North Carolina, Dix Park Conservancy, and Coastal Credit Union Foundation.

Marquita was born and raised in Moyock, N.C., a small town on the most northeastern point of the state. She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Communication from East Carolina University, and a master’s degree in Communication and Journalism from Norfolk State University. She is supported by her loving husband and two amazing children.

Connect with Marquita

Website: https://thecollaborativenc.org

Facebook: The Collaborative of NC

Connect with Tiffany

Website: https://www.moneytalkwitht.com

Facebook: Money Talk With Tiff

Twitter: @moneytalkwitht

Instagram: @moneytalkwitht

LinkedIn: Tiffany Grant

YouTube: Money Talk With Tiff

Pinterest: @moneytalkwitht

TikTok: @moneytalkwitht

Timestamps

[00:00] Consumer credit reporting history for bank accounts.

[05:38] Clarifying banking issues and emphasizing FDIC insurance.

[07:56] Issues with alternative payment solutions, prefer banking.

[11:50] Understanding bank account details is crucial.

[12:45] Switched from bank to credit union to avoid fees.

[17:03] Visit thecollaborativenc.org for bank account options.

Key Topics

• Financial resilience in North Carolina
• Understanding check systems
• Reasons for being unbanked
• Importance of bank account access
• Evaluating bank account features
• Trust in financial institutions
• Resources for banking options

Resources Mentioned

• ChexSystems: A consumer credit reporting agency tracking banking history.
• State Employees Credit Union: Example discussed regarding banking mishaps and their resolution.
• FDIC & NCUA: Insurance organizations for banks and credit unions.
• I was Denied: 6 Alternatives When You Can't Open a Bank Account

Calls to Action

• Switching Accounts: Don’t feel stuck with your current bank account. Explore options that better suit your financial needs.
• Get Informed: Visit our guest’s website for more resources and to find accounts specifically designed to help those excluded from traditional banking systems.

You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money

nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse strings

and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff

podcast.

Hey, everyone. I am so excited because I have Markeeda

Robertson on the line now. I met Markita at the

Institute for Emerging Issues conference this year.

It was called weathering financial storms. So we talked about how financial

resilience in North Carolina. And I ended up going

to one of her sessions about being

unbanked to saving. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I got to have you

on the podcast. So, hey, Markita, how are you? Hey, girl. Hey.

I am excited to be here to hang out with

you and your friends and to talk

about money, specifically,

MySpace in the financial empowerment space, which is

expanding access to safe and affordable bank accounts.

Yes, yes. And I feel like this is not talked about enough.

And I shared with you, you know, prior to hitting record, how

I had no idea that, you know, people couldn't get bank

accounts. You know, in the personal finance space, we're so

quick to say, oh, just open a savings account. Oh, just open a

checking account. Everything will be fine. And not realizing that that

is not a reality for some people. Absolutely. You know, privilege is

a funny thing. Folks that have it don't even realize what they have.

And, you know, having access to a

bank account is one of those privileges that

we often take for granted and don't really

realize. There are. There's a group of people

that don't have access to this and for many, many

reasons. And so you mentioned check

systems. And that is check systems is

a consumer credit reporting agency that tracks activity related

to closed checking savings accounts with banks

and credit unions. So, simply put, it is the consumer

credit reporting of your bank account history. You have a credit

reporting of your credit history.

You have credit reporting of your rental history. You also have

one of your banking history. And so if you are in check

systems because you have had an account at one

point or another last year, 20 years, 30 years

ago, and it was closed and you still owe fees, that

is going to prohibit you from opening a

bank account anywhere else. And so when

you run into people that say that they are in check systems, this is exactly

what they mean. They have had a bank account. Something

has happened, it was closed. They owe fees, and they are

essentially not able to open a bank account

anywhere else. And so, like I said, these are one. This is one of

the many reasons why folks don't have safe and affordable bank

accounts, and they're leaning on financial alternatives,

like the money centers in Walmart, the

pay cards, cash app demo, all those things. Yeah. So let's dive

into that a little bit deeper, because I

came across a sex check system situation by accident,

just dealing with a client where, you know, they were in that

situation. But what are some other ways or reasons why

people couldn't open a bank account? So it's not

always that they can. It could just be they don't want to. There

are some cultural reasons why black and brown people

do not open bank accounts. And it could be just distrust. They

don't trust the financial systems with good reasons.

It could be because they don't understand how it works, or

they also don't feel like I don't have enough money to have a bank account.

Like, I'm good with handling my money at my

home, I'm good with handling it in cash app,

sending some here and there. So I don't need a bank account. So that's

one reason. Another reason could be issues with identity.

To open a bank account, you have to. The

bank has to have a clear understanding of who you are, and

that is in the form of identification. So there's that,

and there's also proof of residence. To open a bank account, you have to

have a physical address. So if you are a person with

homeless insecurity, you may not have that. So these are

just some of the reasons why folks don't have bank accounts. And there

is probably, there's a common denominator with all these things. And that

is really what we see in low income families, you

know, not having enough money, not having a clear understanding

of the merit or value in holding a bank account.

Those are really some issues that hold folks back from

building financial wealth, from financial mobility. Gotcha.

Gotcha. And also, I just wanna add, too, I know recently,

like a few days ago, and we're recording this in April, y'all, so bear

with us. But a few days ago, I got an alert from my bank

account with state employees credit union, and they had an error where

they, I guess, reprocessed the file. And

so, you know, there were extra debits in people's

accounts. And so when I went to social media, people were like, pull your

money out. You know, pull it out now. You know, that type of thing. And

I can see how that can also contribute to how

people are unbanked or underbanked. Well, let's be clear.

If I made a purchase and

my purchase was for $50 and $100, came out, we got a

problem. So let's be clear about that. So,

but in the other, in the same spirit, I'm a

bank with state employees credit union and I receive the same alert

that you received. And, you know, those things are

frustrating and do impact

the trust relationship that you have with your financial institution.

But unlike other alternative financial

institutions, state employees credit union and other financial

institutions are FDIC insured and your money is saved.

So while it may, and this has all

since been sorted out, like, your bank account is fine. Right,

Tiffany? Yeah. So I'm not worried about it. Right,

right. No, no, no, no. I'm just. I'm just trying

to get to the point that this did happen on Saturday,

today is Monday, and things have since been

corrected. But that likely

caused some overdraft fees and some other things

in folks accounts, which I can appreciate, which is awful,

but state employees credit union and other financial institutions

will correct that. How fast is going to be corrected?

I don't know. I think it depends on the severity

of the situation, but it can be corrected. You can

recoup your funds if you don't have a bank account, if

you have cash app, if something like this happens, your money is

gone. And we talked to people that have this, that they've had an

issue with cash app, they send it to the wrong person, or there was some

glitch and money was deposited or money was,

money was drafted that wasn't supposed to be. And there is no recourse.

There is no customer service, there is no FDIC that is

regulating these organizations that is going to hold them accountable for

this. So that is, I'm trying to

compare the situations. If one were to happen with

FDIC, insured financial institution

or something that happens with the unregulated financial

institution. And so that's important to

understand. Exactly. And that's why I wanted to bring it up, because, you know,

when I got the notice, I'm like, okay, a little bit of money's missing,

but I'm not going to touch it because I know that they'll correct it.

And to your point, like, I've known people with cash app,

PayPal, Venmo, Stripe, all of these alternative,

and I don't even like saying banking solutions, but like, all of these

alternative payment solutions where they've had issues

and, you know, even personally with stripe, for instance, they

just shut down my account out of nowhere and said that I was violating some

term and I had to fight. I had to go to Twitter in order to

get my account back. Right. And so

these things can happen with all of these alternative

situations. And so for me, that's why I love banking

and preferably credit unions, I'll be honest. But I love banking

because if anything goes haywire, like what just happened, because

stuff happened, y'all, I know it will be

corrected. And I know that I have great

customer service I can get in contact with, so on and so forth. And

so I'm not really worried about situations like that happening. Right, right.

Because I know I get my money back. So with all of that being said,

if someone's listening and they're like, okay, I want to open a bank account,

what are some things that they should look for when they're looking

at potential bank accounts? Good question. Before I move on, I

want to correct myself. The FDIC insured Sue banks.

The NCUA insures credit unions. So they both

do the same thing. One for banks, one for credit unions. But when we were

talking about state employees, I kept saying FDIC. And I just wanted to clear that

up. Yes. Thank you for that. So

if you are interested in opening a bank account

for one, all bank accounts are not created equal.

And just like a shoe, one size does

not fit all. And so you need to find a bank account that makes sense

for you. What works for me may not make. May not make

sense or work for you. So, bank account product is. Bank accounts

are products and they vary. They have different features. Some features to

look for are the how much

you need to put in that account to open it. Some have

low minimum deposits, which as low as

$5, and then some have $250. Some have

$500. What's going to work for you? So

that's one thing to look at. Also

the fees associated with the account. Some accounts have fees. If

you don't keep a minimum daily balance, that could work for

someone, that may not work for others. Some charge

fees based off of overdraft.

And actually, let me back up, some accounts have overdraft protection

features and some do not. Overdraft is a

great tool for the right person, but overdraft

can be predatory for someone, for a person that it

doesn't work for. So, you know, individually, you need to decide,

do you want to be declined at the point of

purchase if you don't have enough funds in that account, or

would you rather see overdraft later? So that depends on

whether or not you want an account that offers

overdraft. Some other features to look

for is the ability to write checks, to have cards,

to have a debit card access, and all those things so when you're

going into a bank account, into a

financial institution, or if you're looking online, those are things

that, features that you want to look for, and you want to make sure

you select the feature that absolutely works

best for you, the feature that will

cost you less money to bank and go from there. I love that

you mentioned so many things that people usually don't pay

attention to when they're looking at bank accounts. It's just like, oh,

well, my family member uses this bank. Okay, I'll use this one, too.

But not going into the depth that you just mentioned with all the

fees or, you know, if there's a minimum balance needed

or if you have access to a debit card or atm access, you

know, all those different things are super important when evaluating.

So for me to just give the audience an example, when I

first opened a bank account, this was back when I was like,

1516, I had just got a job, and so I was like, oh, I'm a

direct deposit into my account. You know, things are going to be good.

Cause they said that's how I can get my money faster. Well, fast

forward, I was not responsible with my money, and so

I would overspend by maybe, like ten cent or something,

and they would hit me with $30. And it got to a point where

my little checks were pretty much being eaten up by overdraft

fees. And so that was one of the reasons why

I moved from one of the major banks. I won't say who it

was, but one of the major banks to a credit union,

because with the credit union, they climb me on the spot. Like, there's

no overdraft fees that I have encountered thus far.

And so I just wanted to bring that example up as well. When

you said, you know, if it's good for you, it's good for you. If it's

not, it's not. Those are some things that you need to consider. Right,

right. I mean, and we, you know, we have all

heard awful overdraft stories.

We've, most of us have all experienced an overdraft a time or

two. And so, you know, a ten cent overdraft that

costs you $30. I mean, that is. That is very

taxing. And so understanding that and making a decision

based on that is very wise

and, you know, financially responsible. So. For sure.

For sure. Now, if someone's like, okay, I

get what you're saying, y'all, and I understand all these things I need to look

for. What are some things? I know we briefly went over this, but what are

some things that they need to make sure they bring with them in order. Order

to open that account. So you're going to need

identification. So driver's license for

students, your student id should be able to work. It depends on the

financial institution. You also need to bring proof of

residence. You'd also need to bring the amount,

I mean, the appropriate amount needed to deposit into the

account to get it open and

also some time to ask questions and to get

a good understanding of it also. And when you do

go, be sure to ask for your access to

manage your account online and keep that someplace safe

so that you can get that set up as soon as you get

home. Yes, yes. And I'm glad you mentioned asking questions

because I have found that a lot of people are, I

don't know, they don't want it to talk to the bankers or

ask many questions or whatever the case may be,

but these people are there to serve you. That's what I always

tell people that come to me with those concerns. I'm like, they're

there for you, not the other way around. So make sure, like Markita

said, you're using them to your full advantage. Access many

questions as you need. So you have an understanding. Cause, mind you, this is

your money, right? It's your money. And

so you need to be absolutely sure how everything works. I

know they probably get tired of me and my questions when I'm opening an

account and stuff, but I will not do it unless I have a

full understanding of how everything works. And I'm like, okay, what

was this fee? Okay, and how much is this and what is this for and

what transactions? You know, that type of thing. So don't be

afraid to do that. Right, right. And it's, you know,

we have, it's. It's very interesting, but Americans have this very

weird relationship with professional service providers. You see that

with doctors in the medical space, folks

are intimidated or uncomfortable asking questions about their health. And

the same holds true with banking. Folks are just very

intimidated by bankers. But, you know, you are the

client or the customer in the bank, and they have a

responsibility to provide you with that information and

that insight. And if you don't feel comfortable,

it's not going to work. You have to find a bank or a banker that

you're comfortable with advocating for yourself to work with

them and to get what you need to be to make the

best financial decisions for you and your family. So it's important,

and I'm encouraging you all to feel empowered to do

that. Amen. Amen. Now, we could go on and on

forever about banking because there's so many nuances and

things we can get into. But if people were

interested in finding out more about you because we can't give it all the way

here, finding out more about you, what you do, your

organization, how could they find you? So they can visit

us

online@thecollaborativenc.org.

and specifically on bank on, you can look, go to the

what we do tab and click on bank on North Carolina. We have

a list of certified accounts across the city state

that are what we call our bank on certified

accounts. And these are accounts that

work with people that may have been shut out of the banking

system. We talked about this earlier on the

podcast about folks in check system, folks that have identity

with issues with identity and other things that keep them from

opening a safe and affordable bank account. Well, I'm encouraging you to look

at this list, to reach out to these financial institutions on this

list and to move forward in

opening your bank account and reestablishing your relationship with the financial

institution. I love that. Come on, resources.

So I will make sure that I have all of that information in the

show notes for you. Also, if you didn't catch any of that, make sure you

check out the show notes. It'll be there for you because I know you all

like listening while you're doing other things. It's okay. I got your back.

Thank you so much, Markita, for coming on the show and talking about this

important topic that honestly doesn't get enough play, in my opinion.

Right. You know, and you talk all things money, Tiffany. But

if you want to be financially empowered

in the United States, you need to have a bank account and

you need credit. So those are two things, and these two go hand in

hand. So I'm encouraging everyone

to, you know, if you don't have one, get one. And if you

have one, look at your account and does it work for you? Does it charge

too many fees? Could you be in an account better suited

for your financial institution, I mean, for your financial situation?

And if so, get you that account. Go get the account

that works for you to help you manage your money, because you need all of

your coins. All of them? All of them. No coins left

behind. Right? And

it's not hard to switch accounts. We might have to do another one to talk

about how to switch bank accounts and things like that, but it's not

hard. Y'all don't feel like you are stuck in a situation that's

not beneficial to you. There's plenty of options out there, and that's what

we here to talk about. So thank you so much, Markeeda, and I hope you

have a wonderful rest of your day. Thank you. Bye.

Thank you for listening, joining and being a part of the Money Talk with TIFF

podcast this week. You can check Tiff out every Thursday for a

new Money talk podcast. But if you just can't wait until next week,

you can listen to previous podcast

episodes@moneytalkwitht.com or

follow TIff on all social media platforms at

moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise

by spending less than you make. A word to the money wise is

always sufficient.