The Unbanked

Los Angeles has the highest percentage of "unbanked" in the nation. There are an estimated 300,000 households in the city who do not use banks. Instead they use cash, paying too much at check cashing stores and payday lenders.

There are twice as many payday lenders, pawn shops and check cashers in Los Angeles as there are banks and credit unions. Minority communities are especially bank poor.

Anchor Val Zavala reports on the launch of a campaign to move the "unbanked" into the financial mainstream. She visits a home where a community organizer is teaching Spanish-speakers about the benefits of banks. She goes to a community center where tax day is a chance to get the "unbanked" banked. Some banks have already discovered that opening branches in low income neighborhoods yields surprising success for the company and the community.