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Financial Health Network

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The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) is a nonprofit financial services consultancy headquartered in Chicago, specializing in serving unbanked and underbanked consumers (that is to say, people without bank accounts). It has been characterized as a national leader in research for the underbanked.[1]

History

An affiliate of ShoreBank Corporation, CFSI grew out of a research project conducted in 2002 by a division of ShoreBank on behalf of the Ford Foundation 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[2], authored by Ellen Seidman and Jennifer Tescher showed that millions of Americans 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.

CFSI was officially launched in 2004.[3]

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 investor, funding both for-profits and nonprofits. [4] It has partnered with tax preparation firms to help underbanked consumers file their taxes. [5] It regularly provides research grants for financial services researchers. [6][7] It has researched mobile-banking in connection to the underbanked. [8] It is the sponsor of the annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum, the leading event in this industry. [9]

References

  1. ^ http://www.philanthromedia.org/archives/2008/02/empowering_the_unbanked_with_f.html
  2. ^ Ellen Seidman and Jennifer Tescher, Unbanked to Homeowner: Improving the Supply of Financial Services for Low-Income, Low-Asset Customers, Brookings Institution Press, October 2005.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/mar/02/0302_altfinside/
  5. ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_Sept_20/ai_n15398514
  6. ^ http://www.socialedge.org/features/opportunities/archive/2008/02/16/weblogentry.2008-02-14.8407715751
  7. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS134534+12-Feb-2008+BW20080212
  8. ^ http://www.paymentsnews.com/2007/04/cfsi_releases_n.html
  9. ^ http://www.insuranceheadlines.com/Financial-Services/2568.html

See also

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