The Canada Learning Bond (CLB) is an educational savings incentive that provides children from low income families born in 2004 or later with financial support for post-secondary education. Personal contributions are not required to receive the CLB, however take-up remains low among the eligible...

Comprehensive research on microfinance and subsidy shows that virtually all microfinance institutions are subsidized, but these subsidies are small. There are two clear paths for increasing microcredit’s impact through continued investment: » Lowering the cost of microcredit by lowering...

This reports on research results from an experiment in Malawi that varied the timing of workers' income receipt in two ways. First, payments were made either in weekly installments or as a monthly lump sum, in order to vary the extent to which workers had to save up to make pro table investments....

This is a webinar presenting the results of the Building Savings For Success evaluation report of matched savings account programs in 2 United States cities. One city used a coaching model, the other a case management model. The program showed that participants increased their liquid assets and...

Individual development accounts (IDAs) help low-income families save by matching their personal savings for specific investments, such as a first home, business capitalization, or higher education and training. The Assets for Independence (AFI) program is a federally supported IDA grant program...

Recognizing the potential of financial coaching to improve the well-being of consumers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) commissioned a rigorous study on the impact of financial coaching programs.1 Using a randomized controlled trial design, this study allows, for the first time, a...

In 2012, The Financial Clinic (the “Clinic”) and Branches had the opportunity to influence the emerging financial coaching sector by putting its philosophies and model to test through a random control trial study report titled “An Evaluation of the Impacts and Implementation Approaches of...

Micro-entrepreneurs often lack the financial literacy required for the complex financial decisions they face. This research study conducts a randomized control trial with a bank in the Dominican Republic to compare the impact of two distinct programs: a standard accounting training versus a...