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 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 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...
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 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...
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 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...
The report discussed in this brief, “Building blocks to help youth achieve financial capability: A new model and recommendations,” illuminates critical attributes, abilities, and opportunities acquired during the years spanning preschool through young adulthood that support the development...
Where and when during childhood and adolescence do people acquire the foundations of financial capability? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) researched the childhood origins of financial capability and well-being to identify those roots and to find promising practices and...
To find the best deal when you buy a financial product or service, follow the SAVED steps: 1. STOP for a mental break before making a decision. 2. ASK questions about costs and risks. 3. VERIFY and check what you’re told. 4. ESTIMATE your costs. 5. DECIDE whether the costs and value are...
Aboriginal individuals, entrepreneurs and communities have been affected by financial literacy challenges in many of the same ways that lower-income people and remote populations in Canada have. However, there is the additional weight of specific cultural and structural barriers and the additional...
Financial literacy has been proposed widely as an effective approach to preparing people to manage their finances. This paper proposes an alternative concept, financial capability. Financial capability includes both the ability to act (knowledge, skills, confidence, and motivation) and the...
This is a guide to opening an RESP for education savings in Canada. You can open an RESP at almost any financial institution—including a bank, trust company or credit union—or an investment or scholarship plan dealer. You can open an RESP as soon as the child is born. The money in the plan...
This is a guide from the FCAC on shopping around for a mortgage. A mortgage is a loan that is designed to help you purchase a home or other property. Home buyers make a down payment on the purchase price and then borrow the remainder from a lender. Five percent is the minimum down payment home...
This guide explains what a line of credit is and how to choose a line of credit to suit your borrowing needs. A line of credit is a type of loan that lets you borrow money up to a preset...