In 2010, Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) launched its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Credit Builder program with the primary goal to establish or improve credit for low-income Latino immigrants and help them responsibly manage credit over the long term.

Millions of Americans are raising children in households with poor family financial health and limited financial resources.

Filene’s LIFT (Lower Interest For Timeliness) program offered interest rate reductions to borrowers who made timely loan payments.

Center for Community Self-Help’s (Self-Help) “Just Right” line of small-dollar credit (SDC) products was designed to test features of SDC products offered to clients as affordable and safe credit options.

Millions of Americans lack access to high-quality, affordable credit. While innovating in the small-dollar credit industry poses challenges, the opportunity to serve borrowers in need of high-quality, small-dollar loans is significant.

Mission Asset Fund’s (MAF) Lending Circles provides a zero-interest loan to help consumers build credit and access an affordable small-dollar loan.

Piggymojo built an online and mobile tool that uses goal visualization, social sharing and mobile technology to help savers turn impulse buys into “impulse saves.”

Piggymojo built an online and mobile tool that uses goal visualization, social sharing and mobile technology to help savers turn impulse buys into “impulse saves.”

Millions of Americans lack access to high-quality, affordable credit. Many of the small-dollar loans available to consumers are high-cost, low-quality products that often lead borrowers into a cycle of repeat usage and mounting debt.

This brief explores the challenge of household cash flow challenges, its impact on financial health, and the opportunity for innovation.