The underbanked are people or businesses that have poor access to mainstream financial services such as bank

Bank

A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

s and so rely upon alternative financial services targeted at poor people such as cheque

Cheque

A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...

 cashers, loan shark

Loan shark

A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....

s and pawnbroker

Pawnbroker

A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...

s They may be distinguished from the unbanked

Unbanked

The unbanked are citizens of a country who do not have their own bank account. Along with the underbanked, they may rely on alternative financial services for their financial needs, where these are available.-The unbanked in the United States:...

who have no banking facilities at all.

Distribution

Small countries have less banking provision than large countries even allowing for the smaller size of their economies.

Remediation

There are many microfinance

Microfinance

Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....

 initiatives such as the Grameen Bank

Grameen Bank

The Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral...

which aim to improve the provision of banking and financial services to poor communities.