Hard Choices: Financial Exclusion, Fringe Banks and Poverty in Urban Canada

by Jerry Buckland

Overview

When low-income city dwellers lack access to mainstream banking services, many end up turning to ‘fringe banks,’ such as cheque-cashers and pawnshops, for some or all of their financial transactions. This predicament of ‘financial exclusion’ – faced by those underserved by conventional financial institutions – is comprehensively examined in Jerry Buckland's powerful study, Hard Choices.

The first account of the nature and causes of financial exclusion in Canada, Hard Choices thoroughly integrates economic and social data on consumer choice, bank behaviour, and government policy. Buckland demonstrates why the current two-tier system of banking is becoming increasingly dysfunctional, especially in the context of new credit products that aggravate income inequality and stifle local economic growth. Featuring a foreword by esteemed economics scholar John P. Caskey, Hard Choices presents pragmatic policy improvements on both the public and private levels that can promote and build financial inclusion for all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442662612
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	03/30/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Jerry Buckland is a professor at Menno Simons College at the Canadian Mennonite University, and affiliated with the University of Winnipeg.

Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations
Introduction

Chapter 1. The Context of Financial Exclusion in Canada
Chapter 2. Theories about Financial Exclusion
Chapter 3. Choosing Banking Services When the Options Are Limited
Chapter 4. The Business of Inner-City Banking
Chapter 5. Working for Financial Inclusion
Chapter 6. Conclusion

Appendix. The Importance of Partnerships
Notes
References

What People are Saying About This

Gary A. Dymski

‘Hard Choices provides original and valuable insights into an important aspect of Canada's urban community. This timely study is bound to spur policy discussion and will appeal to those interested in social issues and outreach.‘
— Gary A. Dymski, Department of Economics, University of California at Riverside

Editorial Reviews

‘Hard Choices provides original and valuable insights into an important aspect of Canada's urban community. This timely study is bound to spur policy discussion and will appeal to those interested in social issues and outreach.‘—Gary A. Dymski, Department of Economics, University of California at Riverside

From the Publisher