Both groups share low income as a common characteristic and lack the minimum balance required to open checking and savings accounts.
[9] Economist Lisa Servon comments that lack of financial education as a reason for using services other than banks is often an inaccurate stereotype.
Around the same time, the Treasury Department put in place Section 326 regulations that allow banks and credit unions to accept identification from foreign governments at their own discretion.
They have even "offered pamphlets on how to apply for a Wisconsin state ID and driver's license, and invited the Mexican consulate in Chicago to visit with a mobile unit that issues 'matricula' cards".
[11] In Chicago, the Consul General of Mexico, Carlos Sada, estimated that up to 25% of applicants of the Matrícula Consular ID apply in order use it to acquire U.S. bank accounts.