Category: Report

Local Coalition Strategies for Navigating Financial Institution Partnerships and Account Certification

Posted on by Katie Plat

Chapter 6 of the Bank On Coalition Playbook, Local Coalition Strategies for Navigating Financial Institution Partnerships and Account Certification provides insight into a range of approaches local Bank On coalitions have used to engage with their financial institution partners.

The CFE Fund’s Bank On Coalition Playbook provides tools and resources that local coalitions can use to do their work more effectively. Additional components of the playbook include chapters on Guiding Principles for the Bank On movement, a template Statement of Principles for articulating partnership expectations between local Bank On Coalitions and financial institutions; information on the Bank On Account verification and certification process; a Bank On listserv; and a Bank On Coalition Logic Model.

Summer Jobs Connect: Where Strong Financial Futures Begin

Posted on by Katie Plat

This report, Summer Jobs Connect: Where Strong Financial Futures Begin details the Summer Jobs Connect (SJC) model and serves as a resource for local governments and their nonprofit partners who are looking to add financial empowerment strategies — banking access and financial education – into their Summer Youth Employment Programs.

Summer Jobs Connect is an ambitious initiative spearheaded by the Citi Foundation and the CFE Fund to support young adults seeking summer employment, enhancing these municipally-led programs by integrating structural linkages to safe and appropriate banking products, services, and education.

This report summarizes lessons learned from four years of SJC implementation with thirteen city partners, along with research on youth attitudes and beliefs about savings and banking.

 

An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: The FEC Counseling Model

Posted on by Katie Plat

This brief summarizes findings about the FEC counseling process in the five FEC replication cities and is excerpted from the CFE Fund’s full report, An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: Building People’s Financial Stability As a Public Service. This brief details the relationships between FEC counselors and clients, as well as other critical aspects of the model, such as the hiring process and counselor training.

The CFE Fund hosted a 15-minute webinar on this topic; watch the webinar here, and view the presentation here.

Read the full evaluation to learn more about the FEC model.

An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: Banking Status

Posted on by Katie Plat

This brief details banking outcomes in the five FEC replication cities, and is excerpted from the CFE Fund’s full report, An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: Building People’s Financial Stability As a Public Service. This brief highlights how banking status mattered for FEC clients’ success. It also details unbanked clients and what they achieved during counseling, banking outcomes for all FEC clients, and why products matter for programs seeking to improve banking access.

The CFE Fund held a 15-minute webinar on this topic; watch the webinar here, and view the presentation here.

Read the full evaluation to learn more about the FEC model.

An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: Client Achievement

Posted on by Katie Plat

This brief details client achievement of financial outcomes in the five FEC replication cities, and is excerpted from the CFE Fund’s full report, An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: Building People’s Financial Stability As a Public Service. The brief highlights who FEC clients are, including factors that made clients more or less likely to achieve outcomes, ranging from banking status to types of debt held.

The CFE Fund held a 15-minute webinar on this topic; watch the webinar here, and view the presentation here.

Read the full evaluation to learn more about the FEC model.

An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: Partnerships and Integrations

Posted on by Katie Plat

This brief details how the FEC model’s partnership and integration process worked in the five replication cities, and is excerpted from the CFE Fund’s full report, An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: Building People’s Financial Stability As a Public Service. The brief highlights key strategies for developing partnerships and integrating counseling into other social services, both of which are vital components of the FEC model. Partnerships both facilitate the counseling delivery and ensure a flow of financial counseling clients referred through a diverse range of municipal and community partnerships.

The CFE Fund held a 15-minute webinar on this topic; watch the webinar here, and view the presentation here.

Read the full evaluation to learn more about the FEC model.

Executive Summary – An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: Building People’s Financial Stability As a Public Service

Posted on by Katie Plat

This Executive Summary highlights key findings from a three-year evaluation of the Financial Empowerment Center initiative’s replication in 5 cities (Denver, CO; Lansing, MI; Nashville, TN; Philadelphia, PA and San Antonio, TX). Financial Empowerment Centers (FECs) offer professional, one-on-one financial counseling as a free public service. The evaluation draws on data from 22,000 clients who participated in 57,000 counseling sessions across these first 5 city replication partners, and provides additional evidence of the program’s success.

The CFE Fund held a series of webinars about the evaluation; click here for informational resources from these webinars.

Learn more about the FECPublic movement at www.fecpublic.org.

An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: Building People’s Financial Stability As a Public Service

Posted on by Katie Plat

This report is a three-year evaluation of the Financial Empowerment Center initiative’s replication in 5 cities (Denver, CO; Lansing, MI; Nashville, TN; Philadelphia, PA and San Antonio, TX). Financial Empowerment Centers (FECs) offer professional, one-on-one financial counseling as a free public service. The evaluation draws on data from 22,000 clients who participated in 57,000 counseling sessions across these first 5 city replication partners, and provides additional evidence of the program’s success. For an executive summary of the report, click here.

The CFE Fund held a series of webinars about the evaluation; click here for informational resources from these webinars.

To learn more about the FEC Public movement, visit www.fecpublic.org.

Bank On National Account Standards (2017- 2018)

Posted on by Katie Plat

The updated Bank On National Account Standards, identify critical product features for appropriate bank or credit union accounts. Core account features include low costs, no overdraft fees, robust transaction capabilities such as a debit or prepaid card, and online bill pay. Notable changes in the 2017-2018 Standards include expanded allowable bill pay functionality: standard-meeting transaction accounts must either offer internal bill pay or instead provide consumers access to at least four free money orders or bank checks per month.