NEW YORK CITY — The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (Federation) and the Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners (NTFP) have launched a new initiative called "Pathways to Financial Empowerment," which will support financial counseling services at credit unions that cater to low-income consumers.
The program is sponsored by the MetLife Foundation, along with a seed grant from NYSE Euronext Foundation.
The Federation and NTFP will select five credit unions to participate in a pilot program that will provide one-on-one financial counseling, integrated with product delivery and supported by an outcome tracking platform.
The program will employ NTFP's expertise in counseling and their success in banking the underbanked, reducing member debt and improving credit scores, the groups said.
"We believe this project's focus on ensuring that low-income consumers get actionable, smart financial advice from a trusted source is an essential ingredient in improving their financial health," said Dennis White, president and CEO of MetLife Foundation.
Credit unions chosen to participate in the endeavor will be eligible for $20,000 in grants to pilot the initiative in their local communities.
"Financial counseling is a proven method for increasing the financial stability of low-income consumers who may be dealing with uneven cash flows and challenged or no credit history," Federation CEO Cathie Mahon said in a statement. "This pilot will help us determine how best to deliver and track counseling outcomes through a diverse pool of participating credit unions."
Justine Zinkin, CEO of NTFP, added: "Together we will exhibit one more way to make CDCUs even more responsive to their members' and communities' needs and generate a data set that demonstrates the case for integrated financial counseling as smart credit union economics."
A request for proposals (RFP) will be open May 14 through June 12.
