CFSI invests in promising new ideas – both nonprofit and for-profit – focused on providing financial services to underbanked consumers.  Since 2004, we have made grants to nonprofit organizations, as well as private equity investments in leading for-profit companies.  Our objective is to partner with pioneering leaders in the financial services industry to infuse the market with innovation and deliver value to consumers.  We are actively engaged with our grantees and portfolio companies, bringing strategic guidance, visibility and an unparalleled network in the underbanked financial services and capital industries.

Nonprofit Grants
CFSI supports innovative projects aimed at underserved consumers that both address these consumers’ short-term financial needs and promote their longer-term financial well-being. In September 2010, CFSI launched the Financial Capability Innovation Fund which supports promising nonprofit-led projects designed to help consumers better manage their finances and achieve financial prosperity. Specifically, the Fund supports projects focusing on positive behavioral changes and measurable, improved outcomes for lower-income, underbanked consumers. Examples of these results are: improved credit scores, increased savings, or avoidance of unnecessary transaction fees. Through a competitive request for proposals (RFP) process, CFSI awarded $1.5 million total to five nonprofit-led projects with the average award size ranging from $250,000-$300,000 per project. In addition to financial support, CFSI will provide several forms of non-financial support to ensure success of the selected projects.
For more information about the Financial Capability Innovation Fund or the grantees, click here.
At this time, there are no available granting opportunities. Please sign up for CFSI’s e-newsletter to receive updates about future funding opportunities.

For-profit Investments
In July 2007, CFSI announced the CFSI Catalyst Fund, L.P. and invested in five leading underbanked payments and credit innovators. In May 2010, CFSI announced its strategic partnership with Core Innovation Capital I, LP, which was recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative for its leadership market-based financial inclusion.  For-profit companies which can demonstrate strong financial returns, high consumer impact and true innovation are reviewed on an ongoing basis by Core Innovation Capital's investment team.  The partnership focuses on early growth-stage companies in the financial services space, which serve primarily underbanked consumers directly or indirectly.

CFSI is outsourcing all of its for-profit investing activities to our partner, Core Innovation Capital. Entrepreneurs seeking investment capital should contact CFSI's strategic partner, Core Innovation Capital, at www.corevc.com.

History of CFSI's Grant Making

CFSI believes harnessing entrepreneurial energy and originality is essential to delivering effective financial services to underbanked consumers. It therefore supports promising new companies, products and solutions through direct investment via several for-profit and nonprofit funds and by working to attract and organize funding from other sources.

Since its inception in 2004, CFSI has provided more than five million dollars in grants and investments, in addition to working to develop broader investment syndicates. All of its funding projects share the common goal of having potentially broad industry acceptance and measurable impact.

Grant project successes include CFSI's integral role in the establishment of the Credit Builders Alliance, which enables microlenders to report payment data to Experian and TransUnion, an exciting step forward in the credit building process. Similarly, CFSI supported Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund’s Save to Win pilot with credit unions in Michigan in 2009 which demonstrated that the possibility of winning—both a large $100,000 annual jackpot and a range of regularly awarded smaller prizes—does encourage people to save money.

CFSI's first for-profit investment, in CircleLending, has come to fruition with Virgin USA's acquisition of a majority stake in the company, concrete evidence of the industry's growing acceptance of serving emerging markets in new ways, as well as of CFSI's role in identifying promising companies and effectively helping them grow. Since CFSI's investment in TIO Networks, it has expanded its network of financial services kiosks and POS systems to over 20,000, and extended its service options beyond bill payment to include prepaid card issuance, card reloading and international money transfer.  CFSI launched the CFSI Catalyst Fund, L.P. in 2007 and invested in five leading underbanked payments and credit innovators since then.

In September 2009 the Clinton Global Initiative recognized CFSI's launch of Core Innovation Capital I, LP.  CFSI is a strategic partner to Core Innovation Capital and will continue to seek investment opportunities with the potential to both become highly profitable and to demonstrate transformational impact for underbanked consumers. The partnership is actively looking for early growth stage business-to-business or business-to-consumer companies that:

• address interlinked consumer needs;
• offer pioneering products or services;
• demonstrate positive consumer impact and value; and
• can credibly project aggressive rate of return in large addressable markets.

Attractive investment candidates have a strong management team, completed product, signed reference client, and are generating revenue.

Companies meeting these criteria - or investors interested in such companies - should visit Core Innovation Capital's website at www.corevc.com