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Publications  |  Innovators Showcase

The Innovators Showcase includes success stories, case studies, and news briefs from top innovators who are transforming industry practice with "best-in-class" products and solutions for the underbanked market.

Credit Builders Alliance is Featured in a New Annie E. Casey Foundation about the Importance of Credit

CFSI Grantee Credit Builders Alliance is featured in a new short documentary Pursuit of the Dream: Building Credit for Life. The film is targeted at working families who are trying to build financial stability and the importance of a credit score in that ...

Posted: March 2010

Paybefore Recognizes Industry Leaders at Prepaid Expo USA

CFSI offers our congratulations to the following companies for being recognized as industry leaders by Paybefore:

Facecard MasterCard Teen Card (edō Interactive, Meta Payment Systems): Best Consumer-Funded Prepaid Program
Green Dot Corporation (Dot GPR): Best General Purpose Reloadable Program
Payoneer Prepaid MasterCard (Payoneer, Meta Payment ...
Posted: February 2010

Walmart Low-cost Check Cashing Now Available in Connecticut

CFSI Roundtable participant Walmart is rolling out with new low-cost option for cashing checks in Connecticut.  Bringing Walmart prices to Connecticut consumers could mean significant savings for those cashing larger checks, such as tax refunds, when compared to other ...

Posted: February 2010

First Annual Save to Win $100,000 Grand Prize Awarded Today

Attracting more than 11,600 savers who saved $8.6 million during its eleven-month run, Michigan’s Save to Win program has awarded its first grand prize of $100,000. Sponsored by CFSI and managed by CFSI Grantee Doorway to Dreams, the project is offered on a ...

Posted: February 2010

MoneyPass, Green Dot partner to offer ATM access without fees

CFSI Innovator’s Roundtable participant Green Dot Corporation and MoneyPass have signed an agreement that provides Green Dot cardholders with access to all surcharge-free MoneyPass ATMs in the United States. With more than 17,000 ATMs in all 50 states, Moneypass says the surcharge-free ATM ...

Posted: January 2010

CFSI Grantee Learning Briefs

In September 2007, the Center for Financial Services Innovation received a two-year, $2 million grant from The Walmart Foundation to create the Nonprofit Opportunities Fund. The Fund provides innovative nonprofit organizations with the funding, partnerships and peer learning they need to connect their ...

Posted: December 2009

Viewpoint: Keys to Effective Financial Education

Barb Iverson of Weber Shandwick mentions CFSI’s Financially Fit Minnesota study in this American Banker article noting the benefits of financial education. Though plenty of industry leaders are convinced that you cannot change a nation of consumers into a nation ...

Posted: November 2009

Univision Partners with MasterCard to Deliver Prepaid Financial Services

CFSI roundtable participant MasterCard Worldwide has announced a strategic alliance with Univision Communications Inc., the nation’s leading Spanish-language media company, to introduce two new prepaid cards aimed at providing Hispanic consumers with access to relevant and flexible financial tools. The cards will ...

Posted: November 2009

Rising Stars of Prepaid

CFSI roundtable participant Alex Liu was recently named a Rising Star of Prepaid by paybefore.com. Paybefore conducted a survey this summer asking which executives readers felt pushed the envelope in moving the prepaid industry forward. Alex Liu, Vice President of Global Prepaid Products at ...

Posted: October 2009

Making finance fun?

CFSI grantee D2D fund is praised in this article for their efforts to encourage young people to understand how finance works by playing with gaming models. D2D has created an online game that teaches users how to manage finances such as debit and ...
Posted: October 2009

Wanted by the City of San Francisco: Payroll Card Products

The Treasurer's Office of the City and County of San Francisco is currently soliciting information (RFI) from qualified and innovative firms who have payroll card or “prepaid” card products. The City is developing an initiative with the goal of eliminating the distribution of ...

Posted: September 2009

The 25 Women to Watch from US Banker

Lynn Heitman, senior vice president of retail payment solutions at U.S. Bancorp and regular participant at CFSI roundtable events, was named among the Top 25 Women to Watch by US Banker. Heitman oversees branded credit and debit card portfolios, which comprise 52 ...
Posted: September 2009

A Twist on Reaching out to Unbanked Hispanics

In an attempt to expand access to credit among Hispanics with little or no credit history, CFSI Investee Progress Financial is offering small loans to this typically underbanked community. By offering these uncollateralized loans, founder James Gutierrez hopes to help generate credit ...
Posted: September 2009

Remittances Offer Swift Deposit Gains

CFSI roundtable participant Wells Fargo has extended its remittance service, allowing customers to initiate transfers through their online banking site. The goal of extending this service is to cut costs for the consumer, and to forge deposit relationships that could potentially turn into ...
Posted: September 2009

Wal-Mart-First Data Payroll Deal

CFSI roundtable participant Wal-Mart has announced that it has begun offering employees the option of a Mastercard-branded payroll card in lieu of a traditional direct deposit or check system. This new initiative will be particularly useful to the underbanked community and those without ...
Posted: September 2009

Spotlight on Prepaid: Green Dot's New Value-Pricing Initiative

As featured on Paybefore.com last month, Roundtable member Green Dot has announced a ground-breaking new prepaid pricing model. This new value-pricing approach cuts purchase fees in half, and lowers or eliminates other fees so that regular users can use their cards with virtually ...

Posted: August 2009

Wal-Mart's Bill Pay Sets Stage for a Finance Push

CFSI roundtable participant Wal-Mart has rolled out with new financial service offerings targeted and the un- and underbanked community. Teaming up with CheckFreePay walk-in bill pay, Wal-mart will now offer non-urgent as well as next-day bill pay services in addition to their offerings ...
Posted: August 2009

Coinstar, TIO banking on the cash-preferred

 
Coinstar and and CFSI investee TIO are forming a partnership to place TIO-branded kiosks in up to 50 of Coinstar’s current locations. The goal of this partnership between the leading provider of self-service and bill-payment processor TIO is to improve customer convenience, reduce ...
Posted: August 2009

Using the Lottery Effect to Make People Save

by Jason Zweig

Jason Zweig of the Wall Street Journal explores recent trends in American savings and a new innovation currently being tested by CFSI grantee Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund to encourage savings, Playing on Americans’ propensity to overestimate the probability of winning against ...

Posted: July 2009

Western Union Eyes Card Share

Western Union Co. is making a play for share in the growing prepaid market by offering reloadable debit cards to some members of its existing rewards program. The remittance company said that it would selectively offer prepaid cards to the 8 million ...

Posted: July 2009

40 under 40: James Gutierrez

This article highlights the success that Progreso Financiero has had by tapping into the niche market serving the underbanked.  The company offers small loans to Hispanic families lacking credit scores and banking relationships.  Most of the company's business is conducted from booths ...

Posted: June 2009