The "C" and Check Cashing Locations

Here is a map of check cashing/pay day/title loan locations. I used a different break down of income to get a better idea of where these places are.

In the previous map posting, I noted that there were about 180 bank locations in the Shelby County. There are around 170 of these check cashing/pay day/title loan locations in Shelby County as well. This does not include liquor stores and pawn shops. The locations on this map are of larger franchises with 4 or more locations. (AAA Fast Cash, ACE America, ACE Cash, Advance America, Cash In a Flash, Cash Quick, Cash Depot, Check N Go, Money For U, and Neighborhood.)

I made these bank and check cashing location maps on a whim and used the phone book for addresses. I wish I had read this report before hand, but the maps matched much of what the report said. The Urban Institute commissioned this report. "Analysis of Alternative Financial Service Providers" written by Noah Sawyer and Kenneth Temkin. This is the website. http://www.urban.org/publications/410935.html

One of the eight counties examined for this report was Shelby County. Here are some quotes from the Executive summary of the report.

"Most Americans conduct their financial affairs using retail banks or similar mainstream financial institutions, giving them ready access to some of the most efficient and sophisticated financial services in the world. But alongside these consumers, millions of minority and low-income households conduct financial transactions without ever using mainstream financial services. Indeed, according to a recent estimate, as many as 56 million adults have no relationship to mainstream financial service providers. Many of these consumers often rely on alternative financial service providers—check-cashing outlets, payday lenders, pawnshops, rent-to-own stores, and auto title lenders.1 While these alternative, nonbank financial service providers offer convenient services and easy access to cash, their services often carry high costs, limiting low-income families' ability to accumulate assets and establish a credit history."

"To address the limitations of previous studies and to examine more definitively the location of alternative providers, this report investigates the location of three types of alternative providers—check-cashing outlets, payday lenders, and pawnshops—in eight diverse demographic and regulatory environments:"

"FINDINGS
Alternative financial service providers are disproportionately located in minority, low-income neighborhoods.

Alternative providers tend to cluster in neighborhoods with a higher share of minority and low-income residents.

More alternative financial service providers per capita (and fewer banks) are found in census tracts that are disproportionately minority and/or poor."

These are some my own impressions of the map:
The demographic data is almost 6 years old, but the locations are contemporary. Look at Raliegh, Hickory Hill, and even Bartlett. These areas are going through major changes. It will be interesting to see what the census data in 2010 will look like. The "C" will have expanded.

In the next map, I'll touch upon another aspect of the Urban Institute's report.