Millions of lower-income consumers lack access to high-quality financial products and services that simultaneously meet their short-term needs and prepare them for long-term financial success. Dramatic changes in technology, demography and the structure of the financial services industry provide new ...

An increasing number of nonprofit organizations have entered the underbanked market as facilitators or service providers, resulting in a broader array of affordable and well-designed products and services that provide asset-building opportunities for underbanked consumers.  Nonprofit organizations are innovating in ways that ...

Financial services professionals in the United States can learn a lot from South Africa. The country has a sophisticated financial services industry, with well-developed capital markets and established companies offering a wide range of personal finance products. However, South Africa also has ...

Mobile Financial Services and the Underbanked: Opportunities and Challenges for Mbanking and Mpayments

This paper focuses on how mobile phones could be used to provide financial services to the underbanked in the United States. Mobile financial services (MFS) in the United States may ...

The financial services landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. In order for financial services providers to acquire customers and reach emerging markets, partnerships and new distribution channels are needed. The workplace is an ideal channel for distributing financial services to potential ...

Expanding Financial Services to Underbanked Consumers: How Tax Preparation Partnerships Can Help Bridge the Gap

This report discusses the opportunities that tax time presents for financial services companies. Topics of interest include stored value cards, IDA programs, alternative RALs, and retirement savings products. ...

Utilizing Partnerships to Test Emerging Market Strategies: A Case Study of H&R Block Initiatives in Five Cities

This report describes the evolving history and lessons learned behind partnerships created by one financial services firm H&R Block and a variety of public and nonprofit ...

Retailers as Financial Services Providers: The Potential and Pitfalls of This Burgeoning Distribution Channel

Retailers, such as groceries, convenience stores and pharmacies, are emerging as significant distribution channels for a broad range of financial services. The implications are potentially revolutionary, as they call ...

A case study of Affinity Lending's employer-based homeownership program that is part of a group of case studies commissioned by the Fannie Mae Foundation in mid-2004.