Commonwealth, Chase renew research on tech for low-income Americans

A collaboration between Commonwealth, a nonprofit that focuses on financial security for low-income Americans, and JPMorgan Chase, on the topic of emerging technologies in financial services, is entering its second phase.

The initial two-year project, which was announced in August 2020, centered on how financially vulnerable people use and consider emerging technologies and how these technologies can better address their needs; later, the organizations narrowed the focus to conversational artificial intelligence. JPMorgan Chase funded the initiative. One intent was to produce toolkits, briefs and online content with the goal of helping fintechs and social impact companies use emerging technologies to serve low- and middle-income Americans. Commonwealth has developed blog posts and tool kits about using tech for good and designing automated finance and conversational AI for people on low to moderate incomes. 

On Wednesday, Commonwealth announced the next phase of the partnership that will build on its previous research to better understand priorities and trends among financial services providers, conduct additional consumer research and undertake field tests. JPMorgan is funding this phase, as well as connecting Commonwealth with leaders in finance and emerging technologies within its network.

"Practically, we hope to give financial technology developers and providers a much deeper understanding of users earning low and moderate incomes, and create hands-on experience to shape emerging tech based on this deeper understanding," Timothy Flacke, co-founder and executive director of Commonwealth, in a press release.

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The new field test will cover a larger sample group, of close to 1,000 people — focusing on those earning low and moderate incomes, who are largely Black, Latinx and women-led households — than the few hundred included in the preliminary research. Commonwealth plans to observe their interactions with financial chatbots, or potentially a different application of AI in finance, and use surveys and interviews to understand their experience and what can be done better to meet their needs. The nonprofit will also interview decision-makers at major financial services providers to understand their needs, wants and priorities around emerging technologies such as chatbots. 

Commonwealth may also conduct a second national survey to understand their target audience's attitudes toward these technologies. 

"A lot has happened since the last survey, such as disruptions in crypto and new technology like ChatGPT with the potential to change the face of AI," said Flacke by email. "We will be focusing on whether perceptions have changed accordingly."