By Thea Garon, Senior Manager, Financial Health Network
Financial Health Network is pleased to announce the launch of the Financial Health Beta Project, an initiative designed to help providers measure and improve their customers’ financial health.
From June to December 2016, participating companies will use Financial Health Network’s 8 financial health indicators to measure and track their customers’ financial health. In return, participating companies will receive exclusive and early access to Financial Health Network’s financial health score, technical assistance, recognition as an industry leader, and the opportunity to shape a national dialogue around financial health. At the conclusion of the project in 2017, Financial Health Network will publish quantitative results, qualitative learnings, and a revised version of the financial health score.
These companies represent a diverse cross-section of the financial services industry. Together, they will shed light on how banks, credit unions, prepaid providers, lenders, fintech start-ups, and other financial service providers can invest in their customers’ financial health. These institutions are uniquely suited to participate in the project because each company has already shown a deep commitment to measuring and improving their customers’ financial health.
The participants of Financial Health Network’s Financial Health Beta Project are:
· Coastal Federal Credit Union — Based in Raleigh, NC, Coastal Credit Union has 18 branches across North Carolina. The credit union serves approximately 215,000 customers and offers its members a range of products and services. The credit union will collect transactional data on how their members spend, save, borrow and plan, and augment that data with an assessment of their customers’ financial health segment.
· EverFi — EverFi offers free online education for students and adults through modules covering a range of topics, including financial services. The company partners with employers and financial institutions to bring financial wellness and career skills to their employees, customers, and communities. EverFi will embed survey questions around financial health in their educational modules in order to assess their users’ financial health.
· Guaranty Bank — Guaranty Bank is a full-service retail bank headquartered in Milwaukee, WI. Many of the bank’s 120+ branches are located in grocery stores across the Midwest, allowing it to serve low-income and cash-preferred customers. Guaranty Bank will collect and analyze transactional data on their members in order to better understand and improve their customers’ financial health.
· LendStreet — LendStreet is an online lender that offers affordable debt-consolidation loans to help people reduce their debt, rebuild their credit, and achieve a fresh start. LendStreet was a member of the first graduating class of Financial Health Network and JPMorgan Chase’s Financial Solutions Lab. LendStreet will collect transactional data and field a survey with their borrowers in order to gain a more holistic understanding of their customers’ financial health.
· NetSpend — One of the largest providers of prepaid cards, NetSpend has helped more than 10 million cardholders make purchases, pay bills, and manage their money. NetSpend offers a nationwide network of more than 70,000 distribution locations and 130,000 reload points. NetSpend will collect both transactional data and self-reported data on their cardholders to better understand their customers’ financial health.
· Sunrise Banks — Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, Sunrise Banks serves approximately 10,000 consumers, including many small business owners, low-income consumers, and recent immigrants. Sunrise Banks will field a survey to collect self-reported data from their customers to assess and improve their financial health.
· Urban FT — Urban FT is a digital banking platform that offers white-label banking solutions. Through a partnership with Sprint and Boost Mobile, Urban FT reaches users of prepaid cellular plans, many of whom are low-income. Urban FT will collect transactional data on their cardholders’ spending and transactional behaviors and link that data to survey results to gain a more complete understanding of their customers’ financial health.
Financial Health Network would like to welcome these companies to the Beta Project and to thank MetLife Foundation for their sponsorship of this project.
We encourage you to follow developments in the Beta Project by signing up to receive Financial Health Network’s Newsletter.
By Financial Health Network on June 15, 2016.
