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In August 2008, CFSI, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation co-sponsored an insurance convening summary.  This summary outlines issues, research, and innovations around serving the insurance needs of underbanked consumers and offers next ...

The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA), a non-profit, inter-industry trade association created to advance the success of branded prepaid cards, (cards usable wherever American Express, Discover, MasterCard or Visa cards are accepted), and the Center for Financial Services ...

The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) has conducted an investigation into the amounts that prepaid cardholders spend each month to conduct essential financial transactions, and compared that to the amounts that they would spend if they remained underbanked ...

Over the past decade, financial services companies have offered an increasing number of options to households who do not hold or regularly use conventional checking and savings accounts. Some options come from mainstream banks and companies, while others come ...

Network Branded Prepaid Card Association and CFSI release new data on prepaid card usage and underbanked consumers.  The data delivers results from a survey of 400 underbanked prepaid card users and offers information on consumer satisfaction levels, card usage, ...

More than one-third of the 40 million underbanked individuals in the United States would rather use a prepaid card than a checking account for basic financial transactions if costs were equal. Underbanked consumers say they appreciate the convenience, transparency, ...

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 ...

Inform your underbanked strategy with the Prepaid Cards vs. Checking Accounts inBrief and take advantage of this newly released segmentation data.  Do you want to bring more underbanked consumers into deeper financial relationships with your institution/organization? Then, you should ...

In August 2008, CFSI, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation co-sponsored an insurance convening summary.  This summary outlines issues, research, and innovations around serving the insurance needs of underbanked consumers and offers next ...

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 ...

Insurance plays a critical role in asset building. Not only does it provide protection against financial losses caused by death or disasters but it can also help build net worth and protect or transfer wealth. Yet many people, particularly ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

The research that laid the foundation for CFSI argues that the interests of the financial services industry and low-income consumers are converging. The paper also presents evidence that this development can benefit both financial services firms and the underbanked market, ...

This paper discusses the implications of stored value cards (SVCs) for unbanked and underbanked consumers, explores the hypothesis that SVCs can offer consumers the potential to build assets and improve their credit records, and presents policy issues that may affect ...

Discusses the potential that stored value cards (SVCs) have to serve as cash and check alternatives for otherwise underbanked consumers. Provides insight into important industry innovations and trends, including pricing, marketing, remittance features, bill payment, consumer protections, future savings options, ...