Challenges continue to impede the distribution of Child Tax Credit payments, especially for those who could benefit from them the most. The Financial Health Network will undertake research, supported by VISA, to determine how long CTC recipients might have waited to receive their payment, how much they might have spent in fees to access their payment, and how they ultimately used their payment.

Andrew Dunn sat down with Kori Hattemer, Director of Financial Programs at Foundation Communities, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing in 23 communities in Austin and North Texas, on how pandemic-related government interventions are affecting recipients’ financial health.

Your current and future customers are seeking your help to improve their financial health. How will your support and guidance lead them to success?

The Financial Health Network teams up with Elevate and Finicity to ensure that the right audience finds and engages with a financial health product.

Financial solutions aren’t one-size-fits-all. To solve finhealth challenges, it’s important to have a deeper understanding of customers’ financial health needs.

The role of care in our economy has entered the national spotlight, yet there’s still much we don’t know about the financial and economic consequences of caregiving.

For the nearly 600,000 Americans who return to their communities from incarceration each year, reestablishing financial stability and access to safe financial products is key to improving financial health. For many returning citizens, lack of ID can limit employment and housing opportunities. There are several reasons returning citizens may leave incarceration without ID: They may […]

To help lower barriers to financial health and improve employment outcomes for returning citizens, the Financial Solutions Lab has awarded grants to five nonprofit and fintech partnerships working across the United States as part of our 2021 Exchange cohort.

Helen Robb interviewed Tim Lucas of SaverLife about how consumers are balancing spending, savings, and earnings in the wake of the final stimulus payment.

The handful of promising financial health efforts outside the U.S. have been isolated, lacking a centralized forum, practices, and priorities – until now.

Our team executed a deep dive into FinHealth Spend Report data from late 2020 to learn how customers are using overdraft today amidst the pandemic. The results offer fresh answers to some of the key questions regarding overdraft usage.

The high spending on interest and fees revealed in the FinHealth Spend Report highlights the importance of connecting more consumers with affordable products and services. A clear market need exists for financial health-enabling products and services, and FSL is proud to work with fintechs addressing that need.

Our findings showed that LGBTQ+ people in America were less financially healthy, more stressed about their finances, and more likely to have experienced food, housing, and healthcare insecurity when compared to their non-LGBTQ+ peers.

What we are seeing emerge in the labor market now is a competition for workers that feels fundamentally different. Those employers who don’t level up or those that pursue a return to a pre-pandemic mode of operation may find themselves on the losing side in the long run.

Despite growing attention on access and eligibility for public coverage or charity care, too many individuals continue to struggle to manage healthcare expenses without difficult trade-offs in life expenses.

Thea Garon, Senior Director of the Financial Health Pulse, interviews Liz Powell, Head of Marketing Communications & Insights at doxo, on how stimulus payments and tax refunds influence consumer activity.

The Financial Solutions Lab Accelerator is proud to introduce its 2021 cohort, which has a focus on expanding financial resilience and growth.

The pandemic has made it clear that workplace benefits are evolving. As Harvard Business Review recently reported, the vast majority of leaders are planning to expand benefits as a result of the COVID-19. What should your organization be considering? We designed our inaugural EMERGE…

Despite the recent stimulus, increased vaccinations, and gathering momentum of reopenings across the country, millions are still struggling with their financial health. Ongoing economic uncertainty, job loss, and physical health concerns have caused many to shift financial priorities just to stay afloat. In the Financial Health Network’s latest…

People who are arrested, detained, and/or incarcerated often have interactions with the criminal justice system that lead to short-term financial crises and long-term financial instability for themselves and their families. In many cases, families forgo basic needs because of loss of income  following their loved one’s incarceration. Punitive fines and fees create a cycle of […]

Student debt remains a critical topic for both borrowers and policymakers. Many borrowers now face the added financial challenge of unemployment as a result of the pandemic, and policymakers are urgently seeking ways to support these individuals. Now consider that Black and Latinx borrowers are disproportionately affected by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while […]

The new commitment to Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics by the World Economic Forum is the first step on a journey to improving the lives of all stakeholders - including customers, employees, and communities.

FSL provided WISER a $75,000 general operating grant to ensure it can continue to support to independent workers in rural Appalachia.

As vaccines roll out across the country, the Biden administration is considering bold policies to help struggling households, businesses, and communities recover from the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For these efforts to be successful, the new administration – along with businesses, employers, and other stakeholders –…

Hannah brings a passion for financial health and knowledge of startups, nonprofits, financial services, and the fintech ecosystem at large. She will be responsible for the strategic direction of our Innovation practice, including the Financial Solutions Lab.

The Financial Health Network announced today that Hannah Calhoon has joined the team as Vice President, Innovation. In this role, she will be responsible for leading the Financial Solutions Lab, finding new ways to support our partners and innovators as they work to improve financial health for all. Learn more about Hannah’s past experience and […]

In this final installment of the "Good Jobs Matter" blog series, we use the Financial Health Network’s eight financial health indicators to explore additional ways that employers can improve the financial health of their workers.

As the pandemic was initially unfolding and unemployment rates in the U.S. made headlines, research showed that Americans facing both unemployment and student loan debt experienced serious risks to their financial health. One in five unemployed U.S. adults report that they or someone in their household has a student loan, and the 45 million Americans […]

With the arrival of a new administration in D.C. in a few weeks, it’s time to refocus on what Americans need now to support their financial health. Our recently released 2020 Trends Report found that many Americans were able to cope during the pandemic largely because of…

While employee benefits are clearly important for financial health, they are the job quality dimension rated lowest among low-income workers. In order to improve employee financial health, employers should invest in benefits that support worker financial well-being.

Lori Shao founded Finli, one of the Financial Solutions Lab Accelerator’s 2020 Cohort companies, in 2019. Finli’s comprehensive business management software relieves family-centric businesses, like neighborhood schools and enrichment programs, from the administrative burdens of invoicing, tuition collection, and maintaining a digital presence by providing an enterprise solution and parent-approved app. Given its area of […]

The economic shutdown and mandatory lockdowns forced many people to limit discretionary spending on retail, food, and entertainment, while stimulus checks and increased unemployment benefits improved financial health in the short term. This aided in a slow down of overdraft.

There is a strong relationship between job quality and workers’ financial health. Employers have the opportunity to use investment in job quality as a way to improve financial health equity among workers.

During a pandemic, unexpected expenses or unplanned loss of income can have a devastating impact on a household’s day-to-day financial management. Employers have an opportunity to steward their resources more effectively into responsive and informed investments to aid employees’ long-term financial health.

Over the past six years, the Financial Solutions Lab has run an annual fintech accelerator that has supported more than 40 companies with investments, resources, mentorship, and more to improve the financial health of people across the U.S. These companies have reached more than 5 million low- to moderate-income consumers – and over 10 million […]

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The opening lines of Charles Dickens’ iconic novel A Tale of Two Cities perfectly capture the paradoxical nature of this moment in time. Since March, the news has often featured contradictory narratives about the impact of the ongoing pandemic on people’s financial lives….

There are more than 44,000 federal, state, and local restrictions that block access to public benefits, employment opportunities, and other crucial services that returning citizens need to establish stability and build their financial health.

Today, many digital-only banking startups are focused on offering financial health-centric services. A shift toward advancing consumer financial health would be a positive for everyone.

There is no shortage of macro-level data showing that employees across the country, and in every industry, are struggling financially. As organizations think about assessing and improving the financial health of their workforces, here are some best practices to keep in mind.

Our new report, “Race, Ethnicity, and the Financial Lives of Young Adults,” sheds light on the different financial challenges faced by young adults, especially Black and Latinx young adults.

It’s critical that small businesses — especially those in underserved communities — get support from government and philanthropies to rebuild, and that owners also receive personal financial health support so they can build resilience over time and weather future financial shocks.

The challenges posed by deepening financial insecurity are having a profound and long-term impact on individuals and families, and solutions will require cross-sector collaboration and partnership. To support these solutions, the Financial Solutions Lab intentionally recruited members to its new Advisory Council who bring a vast range of experience and backgrounds, from organizational strategy to […]

Since consumers clearly want the personal finance tools developed by fintechs and other innovators, why are banks and credit unions not offering them widely? The core challenge is to get fintech apps to talk with banks’ existing technology stacks and build a shared business case across the organization.

We’re excited to welcome two experts to the team that will drive workplace and healthcare financial health strategies forward: Matt Bahl and Adrienne White-Faines.

Lack of access to the social safety net has consistently hindered pathways to financial health for undocumented immigrants. Expanding eligibility for benefits to undocumented immigrants, during the pandemic and beyond, would increase financial stability for their families and most likely bolster the economy as a whole.

According to the eligibility rules of the CARES Act and the newly proposed “HEALS Act,” individuals are required to have a valid Social Security number in order to be eligible for an Economic Impact Payment.

By Thea Garon, Senior Director,  Necati Celik, Associate and Andrew Dunn, Manager, Financial Health Network Since mid-March, the United States has lost more than 21 million jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to help people get by, the Treasury Department began distributing recovery rebates, or “stimulus payments,” on April 11 as part of the…

Fintech has a powerful role to play in solving financial health challenges in a more inclusive way.

By Jacquelyn Reineke, Manager and Heidi Johnson, Director, Financial Health Network There is no denying that the COVID-19 crisis has turned the world upside down. Everyone has had to deal with daily changes to their routines and come to terms with a new normal, but vulnerable populations — in particular, aging Americans — have faced the most devastating consequences…

By Sarah Parker, Senior Director, Financial Health Network In the midst of the economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers are realizing that insurance is not a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have. Life insurance carriers report a marked increase in interest from new customers who want to purchase policies, as people recognize the importance…