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Just a century ago, women were barred from owning property, applying for credit and opening a bank account. Thanks to the work of those who pushed for change and equitable rights, women now have greater autonomy over their finances than ever before.
So, when were women finally able to open a bank account in the U.S., and how did it happen? Here’s how women’s journey to financial freedom has unfolded over the years.
When Could Women Open a Bank Account?
It wasn’t until 1974, when the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed, that women in the U.S. were granted the right to open a bank account on their own.
Technically, women won the right to open a bank account in the 1960s, but many banks still refused to let women do so without a signature from their husbands. This meant men still held control over women’s access to banking services, and unmarried women were often refused service by financial institutions.
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibited financial institutions from discriminating against applicants based on their sex, age, marital status, religion, race or national origin. Because of the act’s passage, women could finally open bank accounts independently.
History of Women and Money in the United States
Women in the U.S. have made a lot of progress when it comes to financial rights and independence. Here’s a brief history of American women’s rights related to money, followed by a look at the laws that helped level the playing field.
Women and Money in the 1800s
Married women in the 1800s had no right to their money, land or bodies. This was due to a legal practice called coverture, which stemmed from the country’s colonial heritage. Under coverture, a woman’s property and legal existence transferred to her husband upon marriage. Married women were also considered property of their husbands under the law of coverture. This meant they could not seek gainful employment or manage their assets independently.
It wasn’t until the women’s rights movement in the mid-1800s that women began to gain financial and legal control over their lives. Specifically, the passage of the Married Women’s Property Act in Mississippi in 1839 triggered a wave of similar legislation across the country that allowed women to regain ownership of their property. Also thanks to the act, women were no longer liable for the debts of their husbands.
Women and Money in the 1900s
This century was filled with numerous key victories and milestones for women’s financial rights. By the end of the women’s rights movement in the early 1900s, women had won the right to vote, formed a union for working women, gained access to birth control and reclaimed their property rights.
In 1963, the passage of the Equal Pay Act minimized gender-based pay discrepancies by prohibiting employers from paying different wages to men and women whose jobs require the same level of effort and expertise. This act widened the path to professional opportunities for women and encouraged them to enter the paid labor force at unprecedented levels.
Aside from earning higher pay in the workplace, women also won greater control over their finances in the 1900s. In 1974, the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act allowed women to open bank accounts, apply for credit and commit to a mortgage without needing a male co-signer.
The Current State of Women and Money
Despite making great strides in the past few centuries, women are still economically disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts. Though the gender pay gap has narrowed since the Equal Pay Act, women still earn just $0.82 for every dollar a man makes, according to 2020 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Perhaps due in part to this pay gap, women also lag behind men in retirement savings. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018 Survey of Income and Program Participation, women are more likely than men to have no retirement savings. They’re also less likely to have $100,000 or more saved for retirement.
Still, women have come a long way from being unable to hold property or open a bank account. According to research done by McKinsey & Company in 2020, women now control a third of total U.S. household financial assets, which is more than $10 trillion. By the end of this decade, that figure is predicted to rise to $30 trillion as men in the baby boomer generation pass away and transfer the wealth to their wives, who tend to be younger and live longer.
It’s been roughly half a century since women won the right to open a bank account on their own. While there’s still progress to be made when it comes to gender and money, there’s no doubt the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was a critical milestone on women’s road to financial opportunity and independence.
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FAQs
It wasn't until 1974, when the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed, that women in the U.S. were granted the right to open a bank account on their own. Technically, women won the right to open a bank account in the 1960s, but many banks still refused to let women do so without a signature from their husbands.
When were women first allowed to have bank accounts? ›
The Twentieth Century
In the 1960s women gained the right to open a bank account. Shortly after, in 1974, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed which was supposed to prohibit credit discrimination on the basis of gender.
What year could a woman get a credit card? ›
1974: The Equal Credit Opportunity Act
With the passage of this Act, women were able to apply for credit cards in their own name, regardless of marital status.
When could women borrow money? ›
If the 1970s are remembered as the decade of Women's Lib, 1974 could be considered the year of women's mortgage liberation. Up until then, it was technically legal for financial institutions to refuse loans to unmarried women, or to require them to have a male co-signer.
Who was the first woman to open a bank? ›
At the turn of the century, Maggie Lena Walker was one of the foremost female business leaders in the United States. She gained national prominence when she became the first woman to own a bank in the United States.
When could women drive in the US? ›
In fact, one of the earliest recorded female drivers was Mary Landon. She made the news, and no laws were broken. This was in 1899. So, women have been allowed to drive cars since the 19th century.
When did women stop being property? ›
1900Women Gain Property Rights In All States
By 1900, every state has passed legislation modeled after New York's Married Women's Property Act (1848) granting married women the right to keep their own wages and to own property in their own name.
When could a black woman open a bank account? ›
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 gave every American woman, married or not, the right to open her own bank or credit account. It outlawed discrimination by both sex and race in banking. It is easy to forget today that this right has existed nationally for fewer than fifty years.
When were black people allowed to have credit cards? ›
Landmark legislation included the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970, which forced credit card companies to fairly and accurately report information to credit reporting agencies, and the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which made it illegal for credit card companies to discriminate based on gender and race.
Should a wife have a credit card in her own name? ›
That can seem OK, but it leaves the other with no credit report of their own. It's often best for both spouses to have credit card accounts, in order to build and maintain strong credits scores by making timely payments.
The Homestead Act of 1862 governed land ownership in the developing western territories and allowed any household head — without reference to gender — to gain title to a piece of raw land and develop it. By 1900, married women were allowed to own property in their own name in virtually the entire country.
When were women allowed to buy a car? ›
Subsequently, in the late 1960s and 1970s, civil rights legislation and the surge in women's labor force participation allowed more women to buy their own vehicles as well as to drive more often. There was a cultural lag before auto manufacturers in the 1980s acknowledged women's importance in the car market.
What year could a woman file for divorce? ›
Former President Ronald Reagan, who was governor of California in 1969, was the first governor to help create and sign this new type of divorce into law. Shortly thereafter other states followed suit. People could now get divorced for just about any reason, or if they simply no longer wanted to be married.
Who was the black woman who started a bank? ›
National Park Service. In November 1903, Maggie L. Walker (1864-1934) chartered the Saint Luke Penny Bank in Richmond, VA. She was the first African American woman to establish a bank in the United States.
When did bank accounts come out? ›
As basic as they were, however, they had two features which are the cornerstones of banking to this day: safety and convenience. The first known bank accounts originated in Mesopotamia around 1800 BC.
Who was the first black man to open a bank? ›
William Washington Browne, a former slave and Union Army officer from Georgia, founded the first Black-owned bank in America—True Reformers Bank—on March 2, 1888. The name of the bank was inspired by the Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers, a Black fraternal organization established by Browne.
When did women start working at banks? ›
Up until the 1880s, bank employees were exclusively male. But the creation of new administrative departments – never in direct contact with customers – coincided with the first hiring of women in the major financial establishments.
When were women allowed to own a business? ›
5050 - 100th Congress (1987-1988): Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.
What year did women get the right to work? ›
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, color, or national origin in public places, schools, and employment. However, discrimination based on sex was not initially included in the proposed bill, and was only added as an amendment in Title VII in an attempt to prevent its passage.
When were women allowed to go to college? ›
Women first gained entry to institutions of higher education in the United States when Oberlin College admitted female students in 1837- more than 200 years after Harvard College was founded for the educa- tion of young men. In colonial America there was no precedent for higher education for women.
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