The Financial Health Network wrote this Policy Perspective that draws on our past small-dollar credit work to inform the conversation around recent regulatory actions.

The Center for Financial Services Innovation responds to the FDIC’s Request for Information on Small-Dollar Lending based on our research into the consumer behaviors, products, and providers that comprise the market for small-dollar credit.

Active military members have more consumer debt and lower self-reported credit scores than civilians, but secured credit cards can limit service members’ financial vulnerabilities.

Americans in rural communities are losing access to locally available, affordable financial services and products.

The Financial Health Network submitted its response to the CFPB’s request for information regarding use of alternative data and modeling techniques in the credit process on February 16, 2017. In the letter, the Financial Health Network acknowledges that the use of alternative data in the credit process poses both risks and benefits to consumers. The letter also states the Financial Health Network’s belief that consumers will be better able to achieve financial health if they have access to innovative credit products that are safe, affordable, and of high quality, enabling them to manage their day-to-day finances, weather financial shocks, and pursue longterm opportunities.

The Financial Health Network is submitting this letter in response to the request for comments on “Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans,” issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and published on July 22, 2016.

In partnership with the Financial Health Network, Oportun, a community development financial institution, have set about to understand and demystify the cost of credit that consumers face.

The 2016 Challenge topic of the Financial Solutions Lab is Helping Americans Weather Financial Shocks. This issue brief introduces the topic, the reasons it is an important problem to solve, and some innovative approaches to doing so.

We can educate consumers and provide access to financial products and services. But how do we help consumers use their knowledge and tools to improve their financial behavior and become financially healthy?

Taking a deeper look at data collected for our Consumer Financial Health Study released in March 2015, this Network-exclusive report highlights the financial behaviors, challenges, product usage patterns and demographics of small-dollar credit users.

Discover how Nix Neighborhood Lending has made a lasting impact on its customers in South Central Los Angeles by providing a variety of credit services to this vulnerable group.

This report reveals that financially underserved American consumers spent $138 billion in fees and interest revenue in 2014, generated from a volume of $1.6 trillion in financial activity.

LIFT-UP (Local Interventions for Financial Empowerment through Utility Payments) is a multi-city initiative overseen by the National League of Cities’ (NLC) Institute for Youth, Education, and Families designed to provide financial counseling to delinquent utility customers

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.

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.

This infographic illustrates the types and uses of Small-Dollar Credit products.

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.

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.

Over 100 million Americans encounter difficulty managing their household cashflow. This infographic illustrates some of the challenges these households face and describes how the Financial Solutions Lab can help to improve their financial health.

The Financial Health Network believes that access to high-quality financial services is necessary for consumers’ financial health.

This report reveals that American consumers spent $103 billion in fees and interest revenue in 2013, generated from a volume of $1.3 trillion in financial activity.

To help the industry take the lead in addressing these challenges and build trust with the public, the Center for Financial Services Innovation, in partnership with a cross-section of industry participants, created the Compass Principles.

Reliable access to high-quality small-dollar credit (SDC) is vital to the financial success of millions of U.S consumers.

The U.S. Financial Diaries (USFD) is an ambitious research project first-of-its-kind undertaken in the U.S. The project is collecting detailed financial data from more than 200 low- and moderate-income households over the course of a year.

Millions of Americans do not have access to small-dollar credit or only have access to high-cost, low quality small-dollar credit products that too often lead them into a cycle of repeat usage and mounting debt.

The underserved represent a vast opportunity for financial services providers to meet consumer demand for high-quality products that support financial health.

An increasing number of Americans are turning to nontraditional credit sources for quick access to cash.

The United States financially underserved market generated $89 billion in fees and interest in 2012, representing growth of 8% from $82 billion in 2011.

This report examines the significant volume of recent investment activity in the FinTech market for financially underserved consumers. This consumer finance segment is a dynamic and growing space.

Based in San Francisco, Mission Asset Fund (MAF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping low-income, financially excluded consumers enter the mainstream financial system.

Since 1955, H&R Block has been known as the go-to company for income tax advice and tax return preparation.

There is no one-size-fits-all credit product. Credit products are important tools for consumers’ financial management, but they need to be matched with the needs of the consumer.

Banks and credit unions can and should be doing much more to support consumer credit building – and, importantly, they can do so in ways that align their own success with the success of their customers.

Every year, millions of American consumers use small-dollar credit (SDC) products for quick access to cash.

This case study explores Justine PETERSEN. As a leader in microenterprise development and credit building, Justine PETERSEN emphasizes credit building as an empowering asset.

The products and services that cater to the needs of financially underserved consumers are big business.

In 2010, the Financial Health Network launched its largest effort yet to catalog all existing financial products and services aimed at the underbanked population: the Underbanked Industry Scan.

The Financial Health Network led a consumer research study on secured card products, conducted with MasterCard and Blue Flame Consulting.