Urban Aboriginal use of fringe financial institutions: Survey evidence from Prince George, British Columbia

Paul Bowles, D. Ajit, Keely Dempsey and Trevor Shaw

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), 2011, vol. 40, issue 6, 895-902

Abstract: This paper analyses the use of fringe financial institutions (FFIs), such as payday loan and check cashing providers, by urban Aboriginal people based on a survey undertaken in Prince George, British Columbia. We found that 60% of FFIs’ clients surveyed self-identified as Aboriginal. Their characteristics, compared to the non-Aboriginal FFI clients, included having lower average incomes, lower levels of education, more likely to be female, a higher incidence of being unemployed, higher levels of financial exclusion, and less satisfaction with the service provided by FFIs. We find that government policy towards regulating the FFI industry is inadequate for meeting the basic financial needs of urban Aboriginal people.

Keywords: Payday loans; Fringe banking; Financial exclusion; Urban Aboriginal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G21 G28 J15 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:soceco:v:40:y:2011:i:6:p:895-902

DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2011.08.005

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