The Compass Guide to Prepaid
The Compass Guide to Prepaid defines industry-wide best practices for the design and delivery of GPR prepaid card accounts.
Infographic: Compass Guide to Prepaid
Discover the Compass Guide to Prepaid, with insights into the increased use of prepaid cards and the growing need for guidance around developing high-quality prepaid products.
Compass Principles: Savings Products Examples
This one-page document has examples of applying each of the four Compass Principles to savings products.
Infographic: Compass Principles
Discover the Compass Principles through this informative infographic.
New Underbanked Market Data from Core Innovation Capital and the Financial Health Network
The products and services that cater to the needs of financially underserved consumers are big business.
Highlights from the Sixth Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum 2011
More than 600 participants gathered at the Sixth Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum to discuss the future of the marketplace for the underbanked.
Prepaid Cards and Consumer Protections
Millions of underbanked Americans have found prepaid cards an effective way to meet their basic financial services needs.
The Financial Health Network Third Secured Credit Cards InBrief
The Financial Health Network led a consumer research study on secured card products, conducted with MasterCard and Blue Flame Consulting.
Financial First Encounters: An Examination of the Fractured Financial Landscape Facing Youth Today
Young adults entering the work force and managing wages for the first time today face a financial services marketplace that is markedly more complex than the one their parents first encountered as young adults.
The Financial Health Network Second Secured Credit Cards InBrief
The current economy has spawned renewed examination of the market potential for secured credit cards.
The Financial Health Network First Secured Credit Cards InBrief
The Financial Health Network led a consumer research study on secured card products, conducted with MasterCard and Blue Flame Consulting.
How Should We Serve the Short-Term Credit Needs of Low-Income Consumers?
Almost one-third of the 30 million U.S. households who are unbanked or underbanked borrow to pay for small-dollar, short-term needs.
Highlights from the 4th Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum
This paper outlines some of the major themes which emerged during Fourth Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum, in 2009, inlcuding an exploration of the heterogeneity of underbanked market segments
Turning Today’s Economic Inflection Point into Tomorrow’s Saving Behavior
In the face of today’s economic crisis, Americans have started saving again. And while saving could be a short-lived response to the crisis, the current impetus to save has created an opportunity for financial services organizations to lead the way in encouraging saving, especially those institutions targeting financially underserved consumers.
One Size Does Not Fit All: A Comparison of Monthly Financial Services Spending
The Financial Health Network has conducted an investigation into the amounts that prepaid cardholders spend each month to conduct essential financial transactions, and compared that to the amounts that they would spend if they remained underbanked or used checking accounts for the majority of their transactions instead.
InBrief on the Underbanked Consumer Study: Characteristics of Latino Un- and Underbanked Consumers
This the Financial Health Network inBrief analyses the financial attitudes and behaviors of the 20.6 million Latino underbanked consumers in the U.S.
Preferences and Usage of Financial Services Providers inBrief
This the Financial Health Network inBrief provides some insights on underbanked consumers’ preferences and usage regarding financial service providers. The information is drawn from the 2008 the Financial Health Network Underbanked Consumer Stud.
Highlights from the 3rd Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum
Gain insights from this third annual event, including the importance of building relationships, understanding the underbanked market, and increasing our conversations around saving.
The Financial Health Network Underbanked Consumer Study Fact Sheet
This resource identifies market size data and preferences among eight unique segments of the underbanked market, including "The Strivers," "Middle of the Road," and "Almost There."
A Fundamental Need: Small-Dollar, Short-Term Credit
Learn how the increased scrutiny recently placed on the payday loan industry has underscored the need for innovation and motivated financial services providers to develop solutions.
Highlights from the 2nd Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum
At this second annual event, attendees learned how to reach out to unbanked and underbanked consumers using various methods, including prepaid cards, remittances, credit scoring, and small-dollar loans.
The Predictive Value of Alternative Credit Scores
Being “credit underserved” can have many unfortunate consequences. Learn how companies are designing new strategies that assess creditworthiness in innovative ways.
Highlights from the Inaugural Underbanked Financial Services Forum
This event underscored the business opportunities inherent in serving the underbanked market and identified opportunities to help move consumers along a pathway to savings.
Accessing the American Dream: Affinity Marketing Partnership Strategies for Financial Institutions and Nonprofits
Discover likely affinities among underbanked consumers and explore how financial products could be marketed to these consumers through community-based nonprofits and nonprofits offering advocacy and social services.
Reaching Deeper: Using Alternative Data Sources to Increase the Efficacy of Credit Scoring
In this report, learn insights into the current credit reporting system, why it doesn’t work for everyone, and efforts underway to improve it with the addition of new data sources.
Accessing the American Dream: Utilizing Affinity Marketing to Reach Underbanked Populations
This report addresses the extent to which traditional affinity marketing models apply to underbanked segments while exploring the nonprofit community's role in marketing and distributing financial services.
Expanding Financial Services to Underbanked Consumers
This paper explores opportunities for using the moment of tax preparation to bridge the gap between the financial needs of underbanked consumers and services that can meet those needs.
Unbanked to Homeowner
The unbanked and underbanked still face many barriers to asset building, but recent innovations show that it is possible to overcome these challenges through creative strategies.
Stored Value Cards: Challenges and Opportunities for Reaching Emerging Markets
This paper discusses the implications of stored value cards for unbanked and underbanked consumers, exploring positive effects such as the potential to build assets and improve credit records.
Breaking the Savings Barrier: How the Federal Government Can Build an Inclusive Financial System
Learn why an inclusive financial system is important, who the underbanked are and what keeps them out of the mainstream, and what the government and private sector can do about this problem.