Released: September 29, 2021

Consumer Action receives support from Capital One

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—Consumer Action announced today that it has received a grant from Capital One to support the scaling of its financial technology innovation and education initiatives to directly address America’s savings crisis and improve financial health for low- and moderate-income (LMI) and underrepresented consumers. Consumer Action is working to combat the negative impact of financial shocks on the lives of consumers. This is being accomplished by introducing consumers and non-profit staff to FinTech apps/tools selected for them using a human-centered design approach based on common financial needs self-identified by participants.

The goal of the project is to continue to scale our financial capability and FinTech distribution programs to serve more underrepresented consumers, help them to increase financial capability, build or replenish savings, and measure outcomes. The global pandemic exposed harsh realities for communities of color and other underrepresented consumers. Many in these communities did not have buffers of emergency savings and insurance to help them weather the financial impacts of the pandemic. People who were already financially vulnerable were exposed to additional financial hardships, such as food insecurity, utility shut-offs, evictions, foreclosures, and lack of access to the digital economy and online schooling.

Ken McEldowney, Consumer Action’s executive director, said that support from Capital One “is vital in our work to increase financial capability, including helping financially vulnerable consumers to develop a savings habit and use technology to manage their finances. We find that well-designed FinTech tools can provide consumers with new insights and a path to financial health.”

“Consumer Action’s use of human-centered design and technology to help consumers improve their financial health is core to what we do at Capital One every day,” says Senior Vice President of Community Impact and Investment Kerone Vatel. “We value these types of partnerships tremendously, as consumers need better pathways to grow their savings.”

Consumer Action network partners will measure financial health using the Financial Health Network’s Financial Score® Toolkit Survey. We will work with the Financial Health Network’s subsidiary Attune, a developer of tools that enable businesses and organizations to gather and analyze automated financial health data, to enhance our data measurement work and expand the dataset of demographic questions. Consumer Action hopes to learn more about how gender and disability impact finances. Tools are distributed based on the individual needs of the consumers. Financial coaches and counselors will provide financial coaching and/or counseling to consumers while they are introducing the financial technology tools. Coaches and consumers will use the tools together.

Over the course of five months, Consumer Action will work with community partners at two sites, where clients who save $300 will receive a savings match of $100. The sites will also provide financial coaching, help clients to track spending and develop a budget, and assist clients in developing a personalized debt reduction plan.

Previously, Consumer Action received support from the Nonprofit-Fintech Exchange (managed by the Financial Health Network with support from the JPMorgan Chase-backed Financial Solutions Lab and the Principal Foundation^®), JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo to distribute financial technology tools and educational resources to LMI consumers, measure financial health, and create a financial technology fact sheet.

About Consumer Action

Consumer Action has been a champion of underrepresented consumers nationwide since 1971. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Consumer Action focuses on consumer education that empowers low- and moderate-income and limited-English-speaking consumers to financially prosper. It also advocates for consumers in the media and before lawmakers to advance consumer rights and promote industry-wide change.

About Capital One

Capital One Financial Corporation is headquartered in McLean, Virginia. Its subsidiaries, Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. We apply the same principles of innovation, collaboration and empowerment in our commitment to our communities across the country that we do in our business. We recognize that helping to build strong and healthy communities—good places to work, good places to do business and good places to raise families—benefits us all and we are proud to support this and other community initiatives.