Research Papers

Card-Based Remittances: A Closer Look at Supply and Demand

by

Jennifer Tescher

The phenomenon of international remittances is rapidly transforming the financial landscape. This report analyzes a nationwide study of Latin American and Caribbean migrant remittance senders and their access as well as use of card products. The results show that significant gaps exist ...

31 pp.   
Posted: February 2007

Cardholder Use of General Spending Prepaid Cards: A Closer Look at the Market

by

Jennifer Tescher

Branded reloadable general spending cards are gaining traction with consumer groups making the prepaid card market one of the fastest changing segments of the financial services industry. The recent entry of general spending card providers to the marketplace and the proprietary nature ...

22 pp.   
Posted: February 2007

Early Intervention and Credit Cardholders

by

Kimberly Gartner

Early Intervention and Credit Cardholders: Results of Efforts to Provide Online Financial Education to New-to-Credit and At-Risk Consumers

Cardholders who fail to make on-time payments and subsequently fall delinquent on their accounts not only jeopardize their own credit ratings but also cause financial ...

16 pp.   
Posted: January 2007

Accessing Credit

by Jennifer Tescher

Accessing Credit: The Role of Private Loan Services for Underbanked Clients and Prospects at CircleLending

Faced with poor credit, many consumers find themselves borrowing from friends and family. CircleLending is a specialty loan administration company that has pioneered the market for managing private ...

Posted: December 2006

Market Interest in Alternative Data Sources and Credit Scoring

by

Rachel Schneider

One important barrier for millions of individuals entering the credit market is that they have no file with one of the three major credit bureaus or a “thin-file” that makes it impossible to calculate a credit score. Commensurate with its increasing interest ...

Posted: December 2006

A Case Study of Checking Account Inquiries and Closures in Chicago

by

Jennifer Tescher

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

Distributing Prepaid Cards Through Worker Centers

by Jennifer Tescher

Distributing Prepaid Cards Through Worker Centers: A Gateway to Asset Building for Low-Income Households

A collaborative pilot program between the Center for Community Change and the Center for Financial Resources has been established to engage worker centers as a primary point-of-access to pre-paid ...

Posted: October 31, 2006

Accessing the American Dream

by

Melissa Koide

Accessing the American Dream: Affinity Marketing Partnership Strategies for Financial Institutions and Nonprofits

Financial institutions seeking to attract new customer markets, including the underbanked, need a variety of strategies to reach the millions of consumers that are conducting their financial business outside of ...

20 pp.   
Posted: July 2006

Highlights from the Inaugural Underbanked Financial Services Forum

by Jennifer Tescher

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

Reaching Deeper: Using Alternative Data Sources to Increase the Efficacy of Credit Scoring

by Jennifer Tescher

With consumer debt levels at an all-time high and the credit card and mortgage markets heavily saturated, the financial services industry has begun to turn its attention to the vast untapped pool of consumers who have minimal credit histories but aren't necessarily ...

10 pp.   
Posted: March 2006

Accessing the American Dream: Utilizing Affinity Marketing to Reach Underbanked Populations

by Jennifer Tescher

This report addresses to what extent traditional affinity marketing models are applicable to underbanked segments and explores the role of the nonprofit community in marketing and distributing financial services through affinity programming. The report also expands on our understanding of affinity marketing ...

16 pp.   
Published in CFSI on . Posted: January 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

Financial Services in the Workplace: Using Intermediaries to Achieve Long-Term Value

by Jennifer Tescher

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 ...

22 pp.   
Posted: November 2005

From the Margins to the Mainstream

From the Margins to the Mainstream: A Guide to Building Products and Strategies for Underbanked Markets (for chapter links, see below)

The Retail Financial Services Initiative (RFSI) is a three-year project organized by NCIF that seeks to increase the quantity and quality of ...

Posted: November 11, 2005

Making Financial Services Work for Everyone

by Jennifer Tescher

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

On June 30, 2005, the Ford Foundation hosted a gathering of 22 policy advocates, issue experts, foundation program officers, and private ...

19 pp.   
Posted: October 2005

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

by Jennifer Tescher

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

Expanding Financial Services to Underbanked Consumers

by Jennifer Tescher

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. ...

17 pp.   
Posted: September 2005

Getting to Know Underbanked Consumers: A Financial Services Analysis

by Jennifer Tescher

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 Schütte

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

Meeting Them Where They Work

by Jennifer Tescher

Meeting Them Where They Work: The Promise of Financial Services Distribution in the Workplace

This report outlines a variety of ongoing and emerging opportunities to distribute financial services through the workplace. The foundation for this paper is based on presentations given at the ...

11 pp.   
Posted: August 2005

Utilizing Partnerships to Test Emerging Market Strategies

by Jennifer Tescher

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 ...

20 pp.   
Posted: July 2005

Marrying Financial Transactions with Asset-Building Opportunities

by Jennifer Tescher

This issue brief describes the ways in which two trends the Individual Development Account (IDA) movement and advances in financial services technology delivery could converge to create new opportunities to link transactional financial services with asset-building opportunities.

8 pp.   
Posted: July 2005