A roll of money tucked in a mattress for safekeeping.Regions Bank has launched a program to target consumers who use nontraditional means to move their money around instead of banks.
The program, called Now Banking, gives customers the ability to cash any check, perform money transfers and reload prepaid debit cards.
Customers also can secure short-term loans, more commonly called payday loans, directly through Regions in a program called Ready Advance.
“We found that our customers had to go to an alternative financial service provider to get those services, and that was an eye opener for us,” said John Owen, senior executive vice president and head of consumer services for Regions. “We are trying to reach a broader audience.”
The Birmingham, Ala.-based lender estimates that 23 percent of its customers are also customers of alternative financial services such as check cashing, money order and payday lenders. That’s not counting the 10 percent of Tennessee customers who don’t use banks at all, according to a 2009 Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. survey.