How many people remember a time when money was stored in a jar that you buried in the backyard? Coming from societies that fashion ourselves modern, it sounds like a practice from our ancient past.

For residents of Cat Island, a population center in The Bahamas’ southern region, access to cash deposits is no laughing matter. It has only been 10 years since Cat Island got its first commercial bank. One local business owner remembers his father’s practice of keeping money under the mattress. While the business owner uses the local bank to operate his gas station today, his father, when he was a farmer some 20 years ago, had to find creative ways to store his cash. Some on the island resorted to burying their cash in the backyard.

It was not so long ago that Cat Island operated bankless, and the residents haven’t forgotten. After all, there are still a few other islands that have no local access to financial services.