Why focusing on assets will lead to a more equitable financial system
SaverLife President and CEO, Leigh Phillips, recently joined the Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Michael Hsu, and Neighborworks President and CEO, Marietta Rodriguez, to discuss how the financial system is (or isn’t) serving consumers. The 40-minute discussion — which is part of an ongoing series from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — covered a lot of ground. From topics on creating a financial system that recognizes the daily realities of the millions of Americans living paycheck to paycheck to the importance of assets and ownership, Phillips, Hsu, and Rodriguez continued to drive home the question: What would it look like if we, as leaders in the financial health space, measured our collective success by the financial health outcomes of our products and services on American households?
This question, of course, is central to SaverLife’s work. As a fintech nonprofit and advocacy organization, we’re committed to listening to and understanding our members’ real-life experiences and financial aspirations. Their priorities are our priorities, and we work to create financial tools and resources that support their efforts to achieve financial stability on their own terms.
However, as SaverLife’s own Leigh Phillips says, wedging a person’s financial life into a system that was never designed for their success will not bring about lasting equity. Current products and services — as extensions of the larger system — fall short in addressing the complex financial lives of people living with low-to-moderate incomes. And that’s if they consider their needs at all.
The positive news is that fintech doesn’t have to maintain the status quo. It can be leveraged for good to democratize access to relevant and reliable financial resources and create more opportunities for people to achieve financial stability. More importantly, it can reform the financial system from the inside, recentering it to represent and prioritize the financial aspirations of people living with low-to-moderate income.
How can the social sector lead the charge on fintech for good? Here are three ways that the financial health field can help create more equitable products and services that drive financial inclusion:
Understand the users’ needs. There’s an opportunity to invest in learning more about consumers that the social sector is supporting: who they are, what they’re striving toward, and the ways that they’re feeling held back by the financial system. Knowing more about our clients and their priorities can lead to outcomes that benefit people who have been historically underserved by the financial system.
Measure outcomes, not just metrics. Internal metrics might report success, but the individual outcomes of consumers can tell a very different story. If the financial health field can continue asking the question “Is this product making things better or making things worse?”, it will be able to examine specific product or service features and refine them to apply to a wider audience.
Design products that meet people where they are. People are making complex financial choices and tradeoffs on a daily basis. Rather than trying to change people to fit a poorly designed system, financial products and services should meet the person where they are and provide the tools and resources they need to reach their next step.
To echo Acting Comptroller Hsu’s words, the conversation on outcomes for consumers must stem from “a sense of shared purpose… working collaboratively to align resources and will.” We, as leaders of the financial health sector, must rally around a collective effort to understand the people we’re serving and put their needs first. By realigning under this north star, we can refine financial products and services to help consumers achieve their desired outcomes — and build a more equitable financial system in the process.
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