Topics  |  Distribution

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 ...

An increasing number of nonprofit organizations have entered the underbanked market as facilitators or service providers, resulting in a broader array of affordable and well-designed products and services that provide asset-building opportunities for underbanked consumers.  Nonprofit organizations are innovating ...

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 ...

Financial services professionals in the United States can learn a lot from South Africa. The country has a sophisticated financial services industry, with well-developed capital markets and established companies offering a wide range of personal finance products. However, South ...

This paper focuses on how mobile phones could be used to provide financial services to the underbanked in the United States. Mobile financial services (MFS) in the United States may finally be taking off, after years of lagging behind other ...

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 cards for immigrant workers. The model is based on a recent ...

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 ...

The Retail Financial Services Initiative (RFSI) is a three-year project organized by NCIF that seeks to increase the quantity and quality of financial services for unbanked and low- to moderate-income consumers. Starting in October 2003, a group of banks and ...

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. The report focuses on the new opportunity created by refund-splitting in the ...

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 NCIF Annual Development Banking Conference, June 15-16, 2005, which included the ...

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 sector entities in urban markets around the U.S. The report is based on a series of ...

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.

Retailers, such as groceries, convenience stores and pharmacies, are emerging as significant distribution channels for a broad range of financial services. The implications are potentially revolutionary, as they call into question the definitions for terms like “branches” and “deposits.” This ...

Describes a program that links employees of a major hotel with financial opportunities, including matched savings, financial counseling, and homeownership possibilities, using a stored value card platform.

A case study of Affinity Lending's employer-based homeownership program that is part of a group of case studies commissioned by the Fannie Mae Foundation in mid-2004.

This paper examines a pioneering partnership among credit unions and check cashers in New York City that offers credit union members access to their accounts through check cashing locations. The program enables credit union members to make withdrawals, deposits, and ...