In a Feb. 16 field hearing, the CFPB said it wants industry input on using alternative data to help thin- or no-file consumers build credit scores. It’s a challenge that many in the prepaid industry have been trying to solve for years to better serve cardholders who often are among the approximately 26 million U.S. consumers who don’t have a credit history and another 19 million consumers whose credit histories are insufficient to produce a credit score, according to CFPB estimates.

By Tyler Griffin, Financial Health Network This post is a follow-on to our recently released FinLab Snapshot, a report in which we identified industry insights, trends and analyses based on FinLab’s 356 applicants in 2016. In this post, we’ll share more about something we called out as one of the “trends on the horizon” we…

By Steven M. Hughes LET’S REWIND. I’m a freshman in college, hungry for food and new experiences as I’m walking across the library bridge. From one end to the other are tables filled with coupons for free pizza, subs and credit cards (one of these things are not like the others). Shortly after all the…

By Tai Stewart Ever since I can remember, my dad was always the financial manager in our household. He knew how to support 8 kids and a wife on less than $40,000, and we didn’t lack any basic necessities. As the eldest child, I was the recipient of most of the financial lessons since I…

How to Value the True Cost of a Loan How should we measure the true value of a loan on consumers’ lives? Lower blood pressure, for the anxiety and stress saved? The dollar amount of an additional payday, because someone could afford to repair the car and get to work? The quality of life achieved…