Throughout that journey, the Financial Health Network has equipped financial services and workplace stakeholders with the knowledge and resources to champion financial health. Together, we’ve carried this mantle, continuously inspired by countless stories of innovation and determination from trailblazers like BECU and Bank of America, whose impactful narratives we proudly shared this year. 

Despite these considerable strides, we still have work to do.

The State of Consumer and Worker Financial Health

According to the Financial Health Pulse®, in 2023, two-thirds of people in America are struggling financially. Financially Vulnerable households paid upwards of $98 billion in interest and fees for financial services in 2022, and nearly four in five employees in the U.S. with high financial stress say it affects them at work and negatively impacts employee engagement. 

It is often your employees and your customers who are most impacted by financial insecurity. It also suggests that workplace investments are not moving the needle at scale. The responsibility for achieving financial health for all requires boldness as we forge ahead toward systemic change. We must let these challenges ignite our ambition. 

To this end, we are thrilled to announce our newest initiative to launch standards to reshape financial services and the workplace, driving them toward a future where we can realize financial health for all. 

Why Standards Matter

Our vision for standards reflects a commitment to transparency, accountability, and consumer and worker financial health. Standards catalyze profound systemic change, shaping behaviors, practices, and policies across industries.

Take, for instance, LEED certification in the construction sector, which sets clear guidelines for environmentally sustainable building practices. By adhering to these standards, organizations can assess and communicate their environmental impact comprehensively, thereby enhancing transparency and credibility in the industry. 

Across the financial industry and workplaces, we see opportunities for financial health standards. Too often, financial services and workplace benefits, practices, and policies are explored in isolation without a more comprehensive systems lens. This tends to fragment conversations around financial health and undermines the ability to prioritize the solutions most apt to improve the financial health of all, especially those from historically marginalized groups.  

Building on Solid Ground

Over the last two decades, our initiatives and resources have laid the foundation for transformative endeavors. 

1. 1. Our behavioral design guides have provided insights into consumer behavior, empowering stakeholders to design products and services that better meet consumer needs.
   2. Our Employer FinHealth Toolkit identifies and maps leading practices for workplaces to design and deploy impactful workplace financial health programs. 
   3. The Financial Health Impact Lab has fostered collaboration and innovation, catalyzing scalable solutions to systemic challenges. 
   4. Partnerships such as the JD Power Certification have recognized leaders in customer satisfaction and financial health offerings.
   5. The Worker Financial Wellness Initiative has supported some of America’s leading brands in enhancing their workplace financial health programs. 
   6. Our recent toolkit for exploring age-inclusive fintech partnerships underscores our commitment to addressing diverse financial needs. 

These efforts, among others, have equipped us with the expertise and partnerships needed to ensure the success of our standards initiative.

The Next Chapter of FinHealth Standards

While our movement has made significant progress as a financial health community, we continue to explore questions on how best to drive impact and ensure adoption of standards: 

How can standards be tailored to support the diverse needs of stakeholders? What types of standards will have the greatest impact on industry and workplace practices and innovation? 

For example:

• • Which workplace benefits are likely to most impact the financial health of workers – in particular, those earning low incomes and/or those who have been historically marginalized? 
  • What incentives will drive organizations to adopt and adhere to these standards?
  • How do we ensure that all consumers and workers have the opportunity to achieve financial health? 

These questions underscore the complexity of our mission and the importance of partnership, collaboration, research, and action.

Join Us in Action

Creating industry-wide standards is a monumental task, but we do not embark on this journey alone. Through collaboration with stakeholders across the financial services and workplace ecosystem, we are confident in our collective ability to drive meaningful change. Whether you are a financial institution, employer, policymaker, consumer, worker or an advocate, your involvement is crucial to building a future where financial health for all is a reality.

We have a bold vision for a future where transparency, accountability, and financial health are paramount. Together, let us pave the way toward a more inclusive and equitable economic economy where every individual and workforce thrives. Take action today by connecting with us. 

Share input as we develop and refine these standards. Engage your experiences with similar efforts in other areas. Partner with us to put these standards into practice. Together, we can transform the financial services industry and create lasting change for generations to come.

To explore strategies for embedding financial health standards into your business, please reach out to Marisa at mwalster@finhealthnetwork.org or Matt at mbahl@finhealthnetwork.org.