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Banking, Interviews

Q&A with Lisa Servon, Author of The Unbanking of America: How the New Middle Class Survives

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Lisa Servon is the author of The Unbanking of America: How the New Middle Class Survives, an engrossing exposé—why Americans are leaving our fractured banking system, and how alternatives are swooping in to get those being left behind. I had a chance to ask her a few questions about her book . . .

Tell us a little bit about how this book happened. When did you get the idea to write it? How did you start writing on issues of poverty?

While teaching gender development and finances, a speaker came in from a payday lending firm. He started a credit union in the south Bronx of New York. He compelled me to try and understand why people are using alternative financial services. This motivated me forward toward the question and was the genesis of the book. I knew I had to get as close to this as possible by going to work for a payday lender. It was the only way to answer the question.

I read that you are a professor at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). What made you decide to go from teaching to writing?

In academia, publishing is really important. It is the primary way to judge whatever it is you are doing and that you are doing your job. Mostly writing in the past was for academic journals, but unfortunately, people that have the power to make the change don’t read them. In order to make the broader public more aware of the issues, we have to go mainstream like writing for The New Yorker. The trade press has more publicity and this can help you be more successful.

How were you able to learn to write an exposé? What keeps you motivated? What advice could you give to other authors? How did you get published?

Learn another way of writing such as creative writing. Your trained in the university to write a particular way. At The New School, I took classes in creative writing and did a summer’s writing colony, which keeps me in step.

Write shorter things first, such as 100 words and progress from there. At one point, I was writing stories of 300-750 words and then got five or six offers of great feedback. Key pieces were already written. Shorter pieces helped sell the book. Another academic book is not interesting.

I got an agent by being introduced to one while speaking at a conference. Then wrote a book proposal. A colleague also gave me introductions to people. I met editors and presses, and both people were interested.

In the book, you give us your experience as a teller. How did you start working as a check casher in New York?

A payday lender came to a class to talk. The topic was very controversial.  I had a gut feeling there was more to this than meets the eye. Even though, alternative banking services were receiving harsh statements in the news, this guy seemed pretty happy. The backside of the story is that people called complaining. I discussed what I was doing and why with the owner of the payday lending store and got the job.

In the book, you’re a loan help operator for a hotline. How did this happen? How did you start working for a predatory loan help hotline? How would people find out about laws on payday lending?

It was a way to help me see what happens to people after they got the loan and can’t pay it back. Payday lending has different laws in different states. We would let people know if it was illegal to borrow funds online. If so, we always encouraged them to pay back what they owed in principal. You could also do an online search of what state laws there are for payday lenders.

What are the main takeaways you would want people to have after reading this book?

1) When people decide what to do with their money; don’t judge them.

2) Understanding. As there are a number of people experiencing financial difficulty.

3) People do have choices.

What are you working on right now?

I’m still speaking about the book. Also working on Move Your Money. It lays out the options people have and doing more research on banks.

What are you reading? What’s on your nightstand?

I’m reading Jesmyn Ward and the autobiography of Bruce Springsteen.

Any nuggets of wisdom for aspiring writers?

Write all you can. Practice. Writing is like a muscle. The more you work it, then the more you get better at it.

Where can people find you? Are you on social media? Do you have a website?

You can find me on Twitter @LisaServon, on my website, and contact me via email at UPenn.

To learn more about Lisa and her book visit LisaServon.com. You can also read book reviews of The Unbanking of America: How the New Middle Class Survives and purchase a copy here.

Financial Freedom

Banking at credit unions versus banks – the great debate

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Banks are known for high interest rates and exorbitant fees. You need to tread very carefully to avoid late fees, overdraft fees and high interest charges if you want to stay out of debt and build wealth.

I have had my personal share of experiences that I would sooner like to forget but they were also great lessons learned. After paying huge fees, one time I even paid for an overdraft fee of $25 for a $2.00 charge, I knew I had to stop over drafting. This actually happened multiple times. So I eventually said enough is enough and I switched from a bank to a credit union.

Credit unions are known for lower interest rates and willingness to work with those of modest incomes. I even learned that credit unions are legally not able to charge more than 18 percent interest rate cap on loans and credit cards per the National Credit Union Association, as long as you pay on-time. Works for me.

It has been over 7 or 8 years since I made the switch to exclusively use credit unions and I couldn’t be happier. I even over drafted one time and as a courtesy this was refunded to me. In contrast, this did not happen with my bank.

Not only was I paying less in interest but I also was able to avoid over drafts completely by signing up for protection with linking my savings account and/or credit card. Previously, I was not made aware of both options with the bank I was with.

In addition, there was a time I was able to do cash advances inside the branch of any bank. Then one day I went to one and they were like last month they changed the policy and no longer did bank advances. How is a consumer to know? I could have been stuck on the highway with a flat and needed the cash but nope. Sorry kid, your out of luck.

Another bank said they too changed their policy and only do cash advances for members. A third bank said they would do it but there was a limit of one thousand dollars for non-members. Then after conferring with her manager informed me they could not do it because the back of my card was not signed. Even though I had identification. I signed the back of the card at the counter and then left.

Finally, I went to my local credit union (where I was a member btw). Not only were they willing to do a cash advance on my Visa but there was no issue of any kind. I was able to get my funds in under five minutes.

From this experience, I learned that you have to handle your affairs and conduct business very carefully. I saw that companies and banks or credit unions could change their policies at any time without anyone knowing. What you are able to do on Monday may be cancelled by Friday. Best to just keep a cash cushion in case of emergencies such as money in savings because financial institutions may consider you and your credit card as personae no grata (unwelcome or not appreciated). This is all done at their leisure so make sure you always have a back-up plan.