From an unbanked person’s perspective, why is it beneficial to become banked?

More and more merchants and bill-pay locations are going electronic for payments.

If you're cash only or cash-from-check kinda of a person, then renting a car, or checking into a hotel, shopping online, or buying a flight ticket online would almost be impossible for you.

The financial instruments that the online world and in many cases the offline world now uses, discourages cash.