FinHealth matters, and a private look into a financial diary shows us why
By Rachel Schneider, Financial Health Network When Jonathan Morduch and I started working with the families associated with the US Financial Diaries research — featured in our recently released book, The Financial Diaries — we thought it might be hard to get people to share the intimate details of their financial lives with us. After all, how many of…
Financial Solutions Lab announces 2017 winners
The financial future of America and beyond will be shaped by many of todays fintech innovators, eight of whom were selected as winners of the Financial Solutions Lab’s third annual competition. Run out of the Center for Financial Services Innovation with support from JPMorgan Chase, the Financial Solutions Lab identifies companies that can help Americans […]
What Trump doesn’t understand about the poor
By and large, Americans can find jobs today. But too often those jobs have wild swings in pay. A mechanic, for example, might earn $3,500 one month and then drop to around $1,000 the next, when customers don’t materialize. The working poor and, increasingly, the middle class are in a state of “persistent anxiety” about […]
Financial Solutions Lab Welcomes Its 2017 Class
We are excited to announce the eight organizations just named to the 2017 class of the Financial Solutions Lab (FinLab) at the Financial Health Network with founding partner JPMorgan Chase & Co. These organizations represent the most promising group of early-stage financial technology innovators that are improving Americans’ financial health. The Financial Solutions Lab winners […]
These Tools Let You Shop Online Without a Credit or Debit Card
Amazon Cash charges no fees to the consumer, PayPal My Cash has a $3.95 activation fee and PayNearMe encourages merchants to absorb the fees, but transactions with some merchants incur a fee that can be as high as $5.99, which is disclosed up front. Ryan Falvey, the managing director for Financial Solutions Lab at the […]
Expert Interview: Tom Brown, Fintech Attorney at Paul Hastings
Tom Brown is a partner at Paul Hastings LLP and a deeply experienced fintech attorney who works closely with the Financial Health Network and all of our Financial Solutions Lab companies. He graciously took a few minutes to discuss the regulatory and legal framework in which founders of these businesses need to operate, providing an […]
Household Debt Reaches New High
Rachel Schneider, senior vice president at the Financial Health Network, studied 235 low and middle income families over one year as they handle their finances, with New York University Professor Jonathan Morduch. They found that families put a premium on stability — and that’s getting harder and harder to achieve. Schneider and Morduch documented their findings in a […]
When the Workplace Works: New Approaches to Improving Employee Well-Being
By Brenton Peck, Financial Health Network “Dear Employer, I need help.” I’ve been taking small steps to get ahead — picking up a few extra hours at work, saving diligently in my bank account, and working to rebuild my credit score. But this month, my son had an ER visit, which I thought was covered under his father’s…
Creating A Culture of Innovation that Builds Consumer Financial Knowledge
An EMERGE Pre-Conference Interview with Keynote Speaker Nandita Bakhshi Read about “Culture at the Core” session at the EMERGE Consumer Financial Health Forum. Learn More and Register Today >> Nandita Bakhshi is President and Chief Executive Officer of Bank of the West and co-CEO of BNP Paribas USA Inc. She is responsible for the strategic…
Why Providers Should Know Their Customers’ Unique Financial Stories
An EMERGE Pre-Conference Interview with Speaker Lynnette Khalfani-Cox By Elizabeth Vivirito, Financial Health Network Lynnette Khalfani-Cox We sat down with Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, New York Times best-selling author and CEO/Co-Founder of AskTheMoneyCoach.com, for a candid conversation about why providers should know their customers’ unique financial stories, what works to inspire consumers to act, and the importance…
Work-Life Imbalance: Why Financial Services Companies Should Care about their Employees’ Financial Health
By Rachel Schneider, Financial Health Network At the dawn of the industrial revolution, manufacturing jobs were terrible jobs. Conditions were dangerous; hours were far, far too long. But over time, the nature of the work changed. Whether the changes were the result of unionization, regulation or just good business, what history reminds us is that…
Fintech Apps Bring Stability to Stressed Families
“In the U.S. we don’t really have an access-to-banking problem,” says Jennifer Tescher, president of the Center for Financial Services Innovation, a nonprofit that aims to help the industry better serve low- and moderate-income consumers. After all, 93% of U.S. households have bank accounts, according to the latest Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. “The bigger […]