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Qapital, which launched its app in Sweden in 2013, is making its American entrance. It is the latest example of how firms are trying to inspire young consumers to save and mashes personal financial management with money movement.
March 5 -
SimpleFi is working with a New Jersey bank to pitch its payday loan alternative and financial educational services to employers across the country come February 1. It represents part of the trend of disruptors rethinking payroll data.
January 28 -
Creating checking accounts, mortgages and consumer loans with features that suit folks with lower incomes is paying off in unexpected ways for some banks.
February 24 -
Banks are transforming branches, rolling out new products and experimenting with alternative data, in an effort to bring more people into the financial mainstream. Such initiatives might have been a footnote in the past, but they have grown into a serious business strategy lately.
February 24
A bill is due before your next paycheck, and you don't have the money to cover it. Many Americans have personal experience with this scenario: roughly one-third of the U.S. population have little or no liquid wealth, according to an estimate by the
The problem of coming up short before your next paycheck is not always caused by insolvency or poverty. It can also be a challenge of timing and cash flow. But for Americans who lack an extra savings cushion or access to reliable credit, there are few affordable solutions. Nearly a third of borrowers use short-term loans to cover regular expenses in order to make it to payday, according to the Center for Financial Services Innovation's 2013
This constant juggle creates inconvenience, stress, and costly fees and interest rates. To tackle these challenges,
In fact, a number of companies across the U.S. are already harnessing technology to solve Americans' cash flow challenges. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based
In San Francisco, Digit helps consumers
Meanwhile, innovative nonprofits are leveraging technology to decrease lending costs, encourage sound financial behaviors and quickly turn effective community-based programs into national models.
Such ideas are promising. But there is much more to be done to bring these solutions to the millions of Americans that need them.
We need to focus on solving financial pain points that millions of Americans face. Let's catalyze a burgeoning landscape of innovative solutions that will help consumers better manage their day-to-day income and expenses. Together, we can help Americans take control of their financial health.
Janis Bowdler is the head of financial capability initiatives at JPMorgan Chase. Sarah Gordon is the vice president of innovation labs at the CFSI and manages the
