The oft used distinction of banked versus unbanked is rapidly losing its meaning. Why? Because the  variety of payment  tools and options expand almost daily for the members of US society that do not have any direct relationship with a bank, thrift , or credit union.

The pace of change in how a large portion of the population pays for their consumption activities is accelerating rapidly. And the growth in how many of both banked and unbanked use the new payment methods is slowly but surely making banks irrelevant to the payment process.

Every day banks, thrifts and credit union eagerly act as the consolidation account point, card issuer and sponsor into the current payment system infrastructure.   Why? They love collecting those fees. Why not? They are charting their own demise.