Teaching New Customers Old Tricks

Some banks try to attract the unbanked and the underbanked with innovative products such as prepaid debit cards and mobile banking applications. United Bank in Atmore, AL, has high hopes for the new technology, but in the meantime it's finding success in the underbanked market using a more traditional tool: checks. Through its Gateway Checking Account, customers at the $448 million-asset bank can get their funds only by using paper checks or the teller line. And though the number of customers involved in the program may sound modest, it was enough for the FDIC to take note this year and recognize United for "Excellence in Transaction Accounts" as part of the agency's first ever Chairman's Award for Excellence in Serving the Needs of Low- and Moderate-Income Consumers.