"Financial literacy is relatively low among all Americans, but national studies tend to see a particularly fragile relationship between the Hispanic community and traditional financial institutions," said Janice Peterson, one of the study's authors.

The study represents the results from a telephone survey of more than 1,300 Valley residents this year. Researchers hoped to learn more about budgeting, spending, saving, borrowing, retirement planning and other financial habits in the Hispanic community.

Peterson, a professor of economics at Fresno State and co-director of the university's Center for Economic Research and Education of Central California, said researchers weren't surprised by the findings, which included:

More than 20% of Hispanics said they never had a bank account, compared with fewer than 1% of non-Hispanics.

Fewer Hispanics (55%) than non-Hispanics (65%) reported that banks were their most usual source for borrowing a large sum, such as $10,000.