This report explores the financial services complaint experiences of Canadians at various income levels who used the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI)’s service. The national, not-for-profit organization collected demographic and case data for almost 1,000 closed cases...

Local governments across the United States are working to help their residents weather the health and financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In many cities and counties, that means deploying their Financial Empowerment Centers (FECs), which provide professional, one-on-one financial...

The engagement of Canadians with lived experiences of poverty in government consultations on poverty reduction is critical. But as hard as governments work to try to include people living in poverty as full participating members in their consultation processes, there are many barriers that continue...

This guide from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada shares guidelines and financial tips to help Canadians during COVID-19. The topics include: getting through a financial emergency, where to ask questions or voice concerns, what to do if your branch closes, and...

Everyone needs to bank and nearly everyone has a relationship with at least one financial institution. Financial Institutions need relationships with consumers too, in order to thrive as businesses. The role these relationships play in financial decision making for Canadians is an important...

This report explores consumer financial health, wellness/ stress and resilience for Canadians across a range of financial health indicators, demographics and all provinces excluding Quebec. This report provides topline results from the 2019 Financial Health Index study and three-year trends from...

Bank On coalitions are locally-led partnerships between local public officials; city, state, and federal government agencies; financial institutions; and community organizations that work together to help improve the financial stability of unbanked and underbanked individuals and families in their...

Bank On coalitions are locally-led partnerships between local public officials; city, state, and federal government agencies; financial institutions; and community organizations that work together to help improve the financial stability of unbanked and underbanked individuals and families in their...

Firms and representatives in the financial services industry occasionally encounter situations where a client’s vulnerability causes the client to make decisions that are contrary to his or her financial interests, needs or objectives or that leave him or her exposed to potential financial...

To address challenges around savings, the asset building and financial services fields have developed an array of solutions that attempt to support savings and wealth accumulation. However, the landscape of savings solutions is complex, difficult for households to navigate, and full of solutions...

In this video presentation Johnathan Weisstub from Common Wealth discusses recent improvements in senior Canadians' poverty levels due to benefits such as OAS and GIS, and the challenges that still remain in ensuring retirement security for modest-earning and low-income Canadians.  This...

This activity sheet is from Module 4 of the Prosper Canada Financial Literacy Facilitator resources. Take a few minutes to how this workshop relates to your life, and set one or two goals for your use of banks and other financial services. To view the full Financial Literacy Facilitator resources,...

Developed in response to a call from G20 Leaders in 2013, the core competencies frameworks on financial literacy highlight a range of financial literacy outcomes that may be considered to be universally relevant or important for the financial well-being in everyday life of adults and youth. These...

In this video presentation Rob Levy from the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) examines the role of financial institutions in building consumer financial health.  This presentation was given at the Prosper Canada Policy Research Symposium on March 9, 2018. Read the slide deck that...

This is a webinar presentation recorded with John Stapleton at Prosper Canada on October 4th, 2016. John Stapleton is a Principal of Open Policy, and has worked for the Ontario Government for 28 years in the areas of social assistance policy and operations. In the session John describes the...

CFSI presents their 2017 Financially Underserved Market Size Study that illustrates the growing opportunity to address the needs of financially underserved consumers and identifies significant trends driving marketplace evolution and...

This brief and an accompanying interactive map were commissioned by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs’ Office of Financial Empowerment. The brief provides information on how many New Yorkers are unbanked and underbanked, recognizing their links to financial health. It also...

The Zambia Financial Diaries is a year-long panel study that collects data each week on all transactions performed by respondents - all sales and purchases, income earned from informal or formal labor, uses of financial tools, and exchanges of in-kind goods. The purpose of the study is to develop...

The United Kingdom is at the forefront of the global finance industry and is a leader in the fields of financial services, technology and innovation. Despite this high standing, a sizeable number of UK citizens lack access to even the most basic financial services, while still more are forced to...

The link between economic equity and financial and economic inclusion has long been the focus of community development financial institutions (CDFI). In this brief, we first examine what scale means for CDFIs and note participants’ focus on scaling impact and their concerns about conflating size...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFPB) looked at the information sources consumers are exposed to when they make financial decisions. Empowering consumers to make the financial decisions that will help them meet their own life goals is a critical part of the mission of the CFPB. To...

Immigrants face many of the same challenges that low- and moderate-income communities experience (e.g., low and unstable incomes, poor credit or lack of a credit history, and limited ability to access loans). But they also face a set of unique challenges. For example, immigrants may be hesitant to...

The report begins by defining and quantifying Canadian financial exclusion and then presents various theories offered to explain it. It then proceeds to provide a set of suggestions as to how banking services can become more relevant for low-income households. Finally, it runs through a set of...

More than ever, Americans need to be financially savvy. The past few years have shown that mortgages can be complicated, business-cycle downswings severe, and investing far from obvious. And, for many of us, saving is not easy. Creating a successful financial life takes a high level of know-how and...

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has unveiled its latest savings tool. “my Retirement Account”—myRA for short—is a retirement savings account designed for individuals who may not have access to a saving plan through their employers. It costs nothing to open a myRA account, and there...