What does a confidence interval represent quizlet?

The number of American households that were unbanked last year dropped to its lowest level since 2009, a dip due in part to people opening accounts to receive financial assistance during the pandemic, a new report says.  

Roughly 4.5% of U.S. households – or 5.9 million – didn't have a checking or savings account with a bank or credit union in 2021, a record low, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's most recent survey of unbanked and underbanked households. 

Roughly 45% of households that received a stimulus payment, jobless benefits or other government assistance after the start of the pandemic in March, 2020 said those funds helped compel them to open an account, according to the biennial report which has been conducted since 2009.

"Safe and affordable bank accounts provide a way to bring more Americans into the banking system and will continue to play an important role in advancing economic inclusion for all Americans,'' FDIC acting chairman Martin J. Gruenberg said in a statement.  

A lack of banking options delayed some households from getting federal payments aimed at helping the country weather the economic fallout from the COVID-19 health crisis.

Battle against predatory lending:Mississippi social justice firm fights payday 'predatory lending' in low-income communities

Checks arrived late for some of the unbanked:For 'unbanked' Americans, pandemic stimulus checks arrived slowly and with higher fees. But that could change.

The FDIC initiated an educational campaign to get more Americans to open an account to enable the direct deposit of those funds. And banks such as Capital One and Ally Financial ended  overdraft and other fees that have been a key barrier to some Americans accessing the banking system. 

What does it mean to be unbanked?

A household is deemed unbanked when no one in the home has an account with a bank or credit union. That share of households has dropped by nearly half since 2009. And since 2011, when 8% of U.S. households were unbanked, the highest since the start of the survey, and the record low reached in 2021, roughly half of the drop was due to a shift in the financial circumstances of American households the FDIC says.

Who are the underbanked?

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft isn’t happy with Sony and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. The UK regulator signaled an in-depth review of Microsoft’s $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard last month, and the CMA has now published its full 76-page report (PDF) on its findings. The CMA says it has concerns that Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal could lessen competition in game consoles, subscriptions, and cloud gaming, but Microsoft thinks the regulator has simply been listening to Sony’s lawyers too much.

Microsoft pleaded for its deal on the day of the Phase 2 decision last month, but now the gloves are well and truly off. Microsoft describes the CMA’s concerns as “misplaced” and says that the regulator “adopts Sony’s complaints without considering the potential harm to consumers” and “incorrectly relies on self-serving statements by Sony which significantly exaggerate the importance of Call of Duty.” Microsoft even accuses the CMA of adopting “Sony’s complaints without the appropriate level of critical review,” suggesting that the regulator is simply just listening too much to what Sony has to say.

At the heart of all the back and forth is access to Call of Duty and concerns around the future of game subscriptions. “The CMA recognizes that ABK’s newest games are not currently available on any subscription service on the day of release but considers that this may change as subscription services continue to grow,” says the UK regulator. “After the Merger, Microsoft would gain control of this important input and could use it to harm the competitiveness of its rivals.”

Microsoft’s full response to the CMA, seen by The Verge, also includes parts where the company tries to, comically, make it look like it somehow sucks at gaming and it can’t compete. Microsoft says Xbox “is in last place in console” and “seventh place in PC” and “nowhere in mobile game distribution globally,” and Microsoft argues it has no reason to harm or degrade rival cloud gaming services as it wants to “encourage the major shift in consumer behavior required for cloud gaming to succeed.”

Microsoft might well be in last place in console sales during the previous generation, but it’s certainly investing billions of dollars to ensure any future Xbox sales aren’t less than half of the PlayStation and that its Xbox Game Pass bet pays off.

Sony and Microsoft have also been battling it out over Call of Duty, and the CMA recognizes this by revealing it’s concerned about Sony’s future revenues related to Call of Duty. “PlayStation currently has a larger share of the console gaming market than Xbox, but the CMA considers that Call of Duty is sufficiently important that losing access to it (or losing access on competitive terms) could significantly impact Sony’s revenues and user base.”

Call of Duty is at the center of Sony and Microsoft’s battles.Image: Activision

Sony has shown how significant Call of Duty is after it labeled Microsoft’s offer to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation “inadequate on many levels.” The Verge revealed last month that Microsoft Gaming CEO and Xbox chief Phil Spencer made a written commitment to PlayStation head Jim Ryan earlier this year to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for “several more years” beyond the existing marketing deal Sony has with Activision. “After almost 20 years of Call of Duty on PlayStation, their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers,” said PlayStation head Jim Ryan in response.

Now Microsoft says keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation is a “commercial imperative for the Xbox business and the economics of the transaction.” Microsoft says it would put revenue at risk if it pulled Call of Duty from PlayStation and that “Microsoft has been clear that it is counting on revenues from the distribution of Activision Blizzard games on Sony PlayStation.”

Microsoft also accuses Sony of not welcoming competition from Xbox Game Pass and that Sony has decided to block Game Pass on PlayStation. “This increased competition has not been welcomed by the market leader Sony, which has elected to protect its revenues from sales of newly released games, rather than offer gamers the choice of accessing them via its subscription, PlayStation Plus.” This comes just months after Microsoft claimed, in legal filings, that Sony pays for “blocking rights” to keep games off Xbox Game Pass.

If the UK battles are anything to go by, this acquisition could get messy as Microsoft and Sony battle it out behind the scenes to sway regulators. Microsoft even has a dedicated website to highlight its arguments as it seeks to convince regulators that its giant deal isn’t a bad one for gamers. We’re still months away from final regulator decisions, but get ready for this battle to continue to spill out onto the internet’s streets.

Join the conversation

Most Popular

1. Here’s what it’s like to wear the Dyson Zone

---

2. Geohot resigns from Twitter

---

3. LG’s gamer-friendly C2 OLED has dropped to its lowest price to date

---

4. Anker’s Eufy breaks its silence on security cam security

---

5. The Verge’s 2022 in review

---

Verge Deals

/ Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we've tested sent to your inbox daily.

Email (required)Sign up

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

What does a confidence interval represent?

What does the 95 confidence interval represent quizlet?

What do 95% confidence intervals show?

What is the purpose of calculating a confidence interval quizlet?