Can text reminders and social commitments improve debt repayment outcomes?
In partnership with Innovations for Poverty Action, Clarifi, a credit counseling agency based in Philadelphia, created the Borrow Less Tomorrow (BoLT) program. BoLT explored the most effective ways to improve consumers’ repayment behaviors. The program sought to address consumers’ present bias and limited attention, which can cause consumers to deprioritize long-term financial goals.
Clarifi’s BoLT pilot ran from March 2011 to July of 2013. The project received funding from the Center for Financial Services Innovation’s Financial Capability Innovation Funds. A partnership with a collaborative of funders led by the Citi Foundation, the Funds provided support to innovative projects designed to help low-income and underserved consumers adopt positive financial behaviors.