Mobile technology may serve underbanked with no cryptocurrency

As Facebook touts a new cryptocurrency as a way to serve people who are underbanked, mobile technology companies may provide the same path to financial services using good old-fashioned dollars.

The technology would avoid many risks worrying lawmakers and regulators, such as money laundering and undermining the Federal Reserve’s ability to set monetary policy. But some who track these technologies say allowing tech companies to become the bankers for the underserved carries risks of its own.

[Lawmakers hint at regulatory models for Facebook cryptocurrency]

In the U.S., 8.4 million households have no bank accounts, according to a 2017 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation survey. Worldwide, that number is closer to 2 billion. An additional 24.2 million U.S. households are considered underbanked, meaning they have access to a checking or savings account, but from alternative financial services outside of traditional banks.

Typically those households are poor, and the lack of…