Propel: Helping Families Make the Most of Their Government Benefits

More than 44 million people in the U.S. – 7.3 million of whom are children – experienced food insecurity in 2022, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).¹ Public sector programs like food stamps (formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and the Child Tax Credit are designed to provide relief to these Americans, but they are often opaque, fragmented, and difficult to navigate. 

While traditional tech innovation has largely overlooked the needs of public benefits users, fintech company Propel has stepped in to empower them through its Providers platform (formerly Fresh EBT). The Providers app helps users manage government benefits, save money, and earn income through an integrated suite of digital tools. 

Propel brought its innovation to life with help from the Financial Solutions Lab, an initiative managed by the Financial Health Network in collaboration with founding partner JPMorgan Chase and with support from Prudential Financial. As part of its aim to cultivate, support, and scale innovative ideas that improve financial health, the Financial Solutions Lab partnered with Propel to revolutionize the public benefits experience. 

With 50 million downloads so far and counting, the Providers platform has built a loyal base of customers who face real financial challenges. A 2023 third-party evaluation, which surveyed a random sample of 50 users, found that 64% of surveyed users have been on the app for at least a year, and 76% would find it “very difficult” to cover an unexpected expense.

Over time, Providers has evolved to include job postings, mission-aligned discounts, mobile banking, and other resources curated for public benefits recipients – calling itself “the app built for making it through the month.” One popular feature is the option to take paid surveys, which 40% of surveyed users do on a daily basis to generate extra income. 

In 2015, Propel joined the Financial Health Network’s inaugural Financial Solutions Lab (FSL) Accelerator, which supports innovators as they work to test and scale new solutions that advance financial health. The Financial Health Network helped Propel bring its transformational product to life through investment, guidance, and connections to experienced partners.

Over the years, the Financial Health Network has helped amplify Propel’s impact by: 

• • Establishing relationships between Propel and mentors who have enriched the company’s understanding of the benefits industry and encouraged it to focus on benefits management, a significant point of difficulty for people.
  • Connecting the Propel team with SaverLife, a nonprofit and fellow alum of the FSL Accelerator, which leverages savings innovations to help people increase their financial security. Their introduction sparked a collaboration to promote savings among low- to moderate-income people.

Propel’s partnership with the Financial Health Network has set the stage for an exciting new phase of growth. The organization secured its Series B funding round in 2022, led by Nyca Partners with participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, and Flourish Ventures, as well as new investors such as JPMorgan Chase Impact Finance and Salesforce Ventures.