CFSICFSI

Topics  |  Market Research

Addresses the latest information in customer information, preferences, and segmentation.

Underbanked Fact Sheet

Posted: June 2007

Research Papers

Highlights from the 4th Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum

The Underbanked Financial Services Forum has become a bellwether for the industry serving the underbanked. Judging by this year’s Fourth Annual Forum, presented by SourceMedia with the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), the industry is strong. Despite challenging times for the ...

21 pp.   
Posted: August 2009

One Size Does Not Fit All: A Comparison of Monthly Financial Services Spending

by Rachel Schneider

The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) has conducted an investigation into the amounts that prepaid cardholders spend each month to conduct essential financial transactions, and compared that to the amounts that they would spend if they remained underbanked or used checking ...

Posted: June 2009

First Encounters Research Description

Corey Stone, CFSI Fellow, will be heading the special research project, "Time to Focus on First Encounters." This research effort will take an in-depth look at first interactions between financial institutions and young people and will spotlight innovative institutions providing products/solutions for ...

Posted: April 2009

The Industry Forecast for Prepaid Cards, 2009

by Rachel Schneider

More than one-third of the 40 million underbanked individuals in the United States would rather use a prepaid card than a checking account for basic financial transactions if costs were equal. Underbanked consumers say they appreciate the convenience, transparency, and privacy of ...

Posted: March 2009

CFSI and Asset Funders Network - Financial Services and Asset-Building Brief

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 ...

Posted: December 2008

Preferences and Usage of Financial Services Providers inBrief

by Michael J. Herrmann

The CFSI inBrief, “Preferences and Usage of Financial Services Providers,” is the newest and latest data released from the CFSI Underbanked Consumer Study. This inBrief takes a deeper look at how consumer usage of financial services providers measures up to their preferences. ...

Posted: November 2008

Highlights from the 3rd Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum

by Sarah Berke, Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini, and Michaeal J. Herrmann

Having recognized the great opportunity underbanked consumers represent for financial services, participants at the Third Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum turned their attention to better understanding this potential market. The forum, presented by SourceMedia in conjunction with the Center for Financial Services ...

18 pp.   
Posted: October 2008

Prepaid Cards vs. Checking Accounts inBrief

by Michael J. Herrmann

Inform your underbanked strategy with the Prepaid Cards vs. Checking Accounts inBrief and take advantage of this newly released segmentation data.  Do you want to bring more underbanked consumers into deeper financial relationships with your institution/organization? Then, you should read this inBrief ...

Posted: September 2008

The CFSI Underbanked Consumer Study Fact Sheet

The purpose of the study was to conduct a segmentation analysis of underbanked and unbanked consumers based on attitudes, behaviors and experiences relative to both formal and informal financial services, products, and institutions.  Four industry leaders co-sponsored the study with CFSI: ...

Posted: June 2008

The Power of Experience in Understanding the Underbanked Market

by Jennifer Tescher, Edna Sawady, Steven Kutner
Financial institutions have begun to recognize the enormous potential in serving underbanked households, but it is becoming clear that attracting these consumers is no simple task. KeyBank, which began offering check-cashing services and complementary educational curricula for non-customers in 2004, has been ...
20 pp.   
Posted: June 2007

A Case Study of Checking Account Inquiries and Closures in Chicago

by Katy Jacob, Ben Post, Jennifer Tescher, Joshua Turnbull
As financial institutions seek new customers in an age of increasing competition, it is becoming ever more important to be able to differentiate among underserved populations and appropriately evaluate risk metrics. Financial institutions may be missing entire segments of potential customers and ...
12 pp.   
Posted: November 2006

Highlights from the Inaugural Underbanked Financial Services Forum

by Katy Jacob
Increasingly, the financial services industry is considering the potential of underbanked consumers, as demonstrated by the sold out crowd of over 400 attendees at the Underbanked Financial Services Forum, held in June 2006 and produced by CFSI and SourceMedia. The diverse audience, ...
14 pp.   
Posted: July 2006

Results of Survey on the Unbanked Market, 2005 BAI Retail Delivery Conference and Expo

During the BAI Retail Delivery Conference and Expo in November 2005, CFSI conducted an informal survey of financial service companies' interests in and experience with the underbanked market. The survey results can be found here.

2 pp.   
Posted: December 2005

Making Financial Services Work for Everyone: A Report from a Convening Held at the Ford Foundation on Financial Services for Low-Income Customers

by Neil Carlson
On June 30, 2005, the Ford Foundation hosted a gathering of 22 policy advocates, issue experts, foundation program officers, and private sector representatives to help identify the gaps in the current financial services system, and to begin charting some possible interventions commercial ...
19 pp.   
Posted: October 2005

Financial Services Trends and Innovations in South Africa: Lessons for the United States

by Darian Dorsey and Katy Jacob
This paper provides an overview of South Africa’s unbanked problem based on the existing financial services landscape, describes the role of the South African government in addressing the problem, and highlights trends in financial services innovation in the private sector. It includes ...
14 pp.   
Posted: October 2005

Getting to Know Underbanked Consumers: A Financial Services Analysis

by Ellen Seidman, Moez Hababou and Jennifer Kramer
The survey described in this report, conducted by ShoreBank Advisory Services in 2003 and 2004 in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Chicago, provides the basis for a financial services segmentation of the low- and moderate-income population in those three cities. The report ...
20 pp.   
Posted: September 2005

Innovation Trends in Nonprofit Financial Services to the Underbanked

by Arjan Schutte
Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) seeks out and funds the most innovative nonprofits providing financial services to this market. In 2005, CFSI received almost 1,000 inquiries that yielded just under 100 applications for funding. While four projects were selected for funding ...
8 pp.   
Posted: September 2005

A Financial Services Survey of Low- and Moderate-Income Households

by Ellen Seidman, Moez Hababou, and Jennifer Kramer
In 2003 and 2004, MetroEdge conducted a survey of the financial behavior and attitudes of low- and moderate-income households in Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, DC. While the results are consistent with prior research findings that this population is less “banked” than ...
25 pp.   
Posted: July 2005

Unbanked to Homeowner: Improving the Supply of Financial Services for Low-Income, Low-Asset Customers

by Ellen Seidman and Jennifer Tescher (Brookings Institution Press)
The research that laid the foundation for CFSI argues that the interests of the financial services industry and low-income consumers are converging. The paper also presents evidence that this development can benefit both financial services firms and the underbanked market, provided that ...
32 pp.   
Posted: July 2005

Results of Survey on the Unbanked Market, BAI Retail Delivery Conference and Expo

During the BAI Retail Delivery Conference and Expo in November 2004, CFSI conducted an informal survey of financial service companies' interests in and experience with the underbanked market. The survey results can be found here.

Posted: November 2004