Using FinTech to manage money? You need to watch this

“The pandemic has forced community groups to pivot and offer their clients financial education in virtual settings,” said Consumer Action’s director of strategic partnerships, Audrey Perrott. “And many of those clients are now using FinTech to monitor and manage their finances. We saw this enormous need to provide financial coaches with another tool to complement their online counseling services—a tool that will help consumers navigate this new technology.”

The short videos are based on Consumer Action’s Improving your financial health with FinTech: A beginner’s guide to personal finance apps fact sheet. They introduce consumers to the types of available FinTech (e.g., internet and app-based) tools, and describe how these tools can help users set financial goals, track spending, save money, send money, pay bills, and more. The videos also instruct consumers on what to consider when choosing an app and how to stay safe when using FinTech. The videos were produced by BridgingApps, a program of Consumer Action affiliate Easter Seals of Greater Houston.

“Easter Seals of Greater Houston and BridgingApps are honored to be working with Consumer Action and the Wells Fargo Foundation by contributing our expertise in digital technology, tools and financial education to enable our community, and especially those struggling financially, to achieve their financial goals,” said CEO Elise Hough.

In 2018, Consumer Action received support from Wells Fargo for a pilot program to distribute FinTech tools and educational resources to LMI consumers in two markets, and to measure the subsequent improvements in users’ financial health (specifically in the areas of spending, saving, planning and borrowing). Last year, the Wells Fargo Foundation awarded Consumer Action a grant of $275,000 to scale the integration of FinTech into financial inclusion programs using trainings, webinars and mini-grants to assist community organizations in educating financial coaches about financial health and technology; distributing financial technology tools to LMI consumers; helping LMI consumers improve their financial health through the use of FinTech tools; and measuring changes in financial health. In addition to developing our FinTech educational videos, the grant has also allowed us to translate our FinTech fact sheet into Spanish; introduce financial health and technology to 410 consumers and 21 nonprofit staffers at various project sites across the U.S.; and distribute valuable FinTech tools to financially vulnerable people.

At a time when 37% of American families lack enough savings to cover a $400 emergency with cash or cash equivalents, Consumer Action is working to combat the negative impact of financial shocks on people’s lives by using a human-centered design approach to introduce consumers and nonprofit staff members (e.g., financial coaches) across the U.S. to the FinTech tools that can benefit them. This approach allows our program partners to select the appropriate apps/tools for consumers at each of our project sites based on the common financial needs identified by program participants. We will share project results in a final impact report at the end of the year. For more information, click here.