The Financial Health Network, formerly known as the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), is a
nonprofit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...
consultancy
A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization.
Consulting servic ...
headquartered in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, specializing in serving
unbanked
The unbanked are adults who do not have their own bank accounts. Along with the underbanked, they may rely on alternative financial services for their financial needs, where these are available.
Causes
Some reasons a person might not have a bank ...
and
underbanked The underbanked is a characteristic describing people or organizations who do not (or volunteer to not) have sufficient access to mainstream financial services and products typically offered by retail banks and thus often deprived of banking servic ...
consumers.
An affiliate of
ShoreBank
ShoreBank was a community development bank founded and headquartered in Chicago. At the time of its closing it was the oldest and largest such institution, and in 2008 had $2.6 billion in assets. It was owned by ShoreBank Corporation, a regulated ...
Corporation, CFSI grew out of a research project conducted in 2002 by a division of
ShoreBank
ShoreBank was a community development bank founded and headquartered in Chicago. At the time of its closing it was the oldest and largest such institution, and in 2008 had $2.6 billion in assets. It was owned by ShoreBank Corporation, a regulated ...
on behalf of the
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
to examine the gap between supply and demand of financial services for low-income consumers as well as potential strategies to close it. The project, authored by Ellen Seidman and Jennifer Tescher showed that millions of
Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
are faced with an inadequate supply of well-designed, reasonably-priced financial products and services to both meet short-term needs and provide opportunities for longer-term wealth creation.
Work
CFSI serves the industry in three primary ways: as an educator, conducting research and disseminating it widely; as a broker, connecting people and organizations within the industry; and as an investor, funding both for-profits and nonprofits. It has partnered with tax preparation firms to help underbanked consumers file their taxes. It regularly provides research grants for financial services researchers. It has researched mobile-banking in connection to the underbanked. It is the sponsor of the annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum, the leading event in this industry.
An April 2013 press release indicated that the Center's Financial Capability Innovation Fund II (FCIF II) would be distributing $2.5 million in grants to eight non-profit organizations, with the goal of supporting efforts to "help consumers improve their credit scores, increase their savings, and avoid unnecessary transaction fees."
[{{cite web, title=Center for Financial Services Innovation Awards $2.5 Million, url=http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=419800005, publisher=Philanthropy News Digest, accessdate=11 May 2013, author=Center for Financial Services Innovation, date=28 April 2013]
See also
*
ShoreBank
ShoreBank was a community development bank founded and headquartered in Chicago. At the time of its closing it was the oldest and largest such institution, and in 2008 had $2.6 billion in assets. It was owned by ShoreBank Corporation, a regulated ...
* Political and Economic Research Council—a Chapel Hill, NC-based think tank dealing in the same issue area
References
External links
CFSI website
Financial services companies of the United States
Non-profit organizations based in Chicago