The National Disability Institute recently released a new report titled Banking Status and Financial Behaviors of Adults with Disabilities: Findings from the 2015 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households. The report finds that, in the 27 years since the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law, ensuring all individuals with disabilities the opportunity to achieve "economic self-sufficiency," this population still faces numerous financial hurdles and roadblocks to financial inclusion.

The report highlights include:

• Among those who are banked, more than 40 percent have a checking account, but do not have a savings account.
• Only 40 percent of households with a disability save for unexpected expenses, compared with 61 percent of other households. In addition, savings are more likely to be kept at home or with family and/or friends rather than in a savings account.
• Almost half of households with disabilities have no credit and are twice as likely to lack credit as households with no disability.
• Households with disabilities face a digital divide; only half of households with a disability have internet access at home or a smart phone, compared with three-quarters of households without disability. Even among those who have access to technology, those with a disability are much less likely to use internet or mobile banking.
• Forty percent of households with a disability use alternative financial services (AFS), compared with 25 percent of those without a disability.

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