Living the "Unbanked Life": Maria

Abstract

This case follows a woman named Maria Alvarez as she explores financing options to cover costs for her young daughter's surprise respiratory illness. Alvarez has not opened a bank account since moving to the United States from the Dominican Republic two years prior and has little savings from her job. She lives paycheck to paycheck without a credit card or credit history, to her knowledge. Should Alvarez get the money she needs through a payday loan, which wouldn't require her to have a bank account, or should she explore what it would be like to join a financial institution and get a personal loan through it?

Excerpt

UVA-F-1892

Rev. Sept. 17, 2019

Living the “Unbanked Life”: Maria

Introduction

Maria Alvarez had always tried to plan for the unexpected, ever since she moved to the United States two years ago with her young daughter, Sammy. Though Alvarez had a degree from her university in the Dominican Republic, she had been working on the cleaning staff at the Moonrise Hotel for almost a year. Alvarez worked hard and mostly kept to herself, and though daily expenses proved a constant financial struggle, she tried her best to keep their lives afloat. She moved to the United States because she wanted to give Sammy a better life. So when Alvarez got the frantic call from Sammy's school that her daughter had fallen very ill, her whole world turned upside down.

The doctors at Mercy General Hospital told Alvarez that Sammy had a rare respiratory illness that would have her hospitalized for at least a couple of months. Alvarez was distraught—her thoughts raced at 100 miles per hour as she prayed that Sammy would be okay and wondered what to do next. Sitting in the waiting room with her heart in her throat, awaiting more news on Sammy, Alvarez couldn't help but wonder how much this would all cost her. She was new to this country and had very little income. She was already living from paycheck to paycheck and had only a small amount of money saved up. She had no bank account or credit card, and needed to find a way to pay Sammy's medical bills as soon as she could.

. . .

Keywords: diversity, Resilience Education, loans, banking, financial institutions, payday loans, financial literacy, female protagonist