FinCap Eval Part A_rev 7-3-14

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU
INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST – SUPPORTING STATEMENT
Supporting Statement for Randomized Evaluation of the Credit Matters Loan at St. Louis
Community Credit Union and Credit Matters Counseling offered by BALANCE Financial Fitness
Program

(OMB CONTROL NUMBER: 3170-XXXX)

30 DAY NOTICE – OMB Revisions 07/03/2014
Table of Contents

Terms of Clearance ....................................................................................................................... 2
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 2
A. Justification ............................................................................................................................ 2
1. Circumstances Necessitating the Data Collection ................................................................... 2
2. Use of the Information ............................................................................................................. 3
3. Use of Information Technology ............................................................................................. 5
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication ................................................................................................ 5
5. Efforts to Minimize Burdens on Small Entities....................................................................... 5
6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection and Obstacles to Burden Reduction ................... 5
7. Circumstances Requiring Special Information Collection ...................................................... 6
8. Consultation Outside the Agency ........................................................................................... 6
9. Payments or Gifts to Respondents .......................................................................................... 9
10. Assurances of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents ..................................................... 9
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions .................................................................................... 9
12. Estimated Burden of Information Collection ..................................................................... 10
13. Estimated Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Recordkeepers ........................... 11
14. Estimated Cost to the Federal Government ........................................................................ 11
15. Program Changes or Adjustments ...................................................................................... 12
16. Plans for Tabulation, Statistical Analysis, and Publication ................................................ 12
Tabulation Plans ..................................................................................................................... 12
Publication Plans .................................................................................................................... 12
Project Time Schedule ........................................................................................................... 12
17. Display of Expiration Date ................................................................................................. 13
18. Exceptions to the Certification Requirement........................................................................ 1

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Terms of Clearance
None.

Abstract
The aim of this data collection effort is to understand the impact of the Credit Matters Loan, a
bundled credit-building loan product offered at St. Louis Community Credit Union (SLCCU),
and Credit Matters counseling, a telephone based credit counseling service offered by
BALANCE 1 Financial Fitness Program, on asset building and financial behaviors of
economically vulnerable SLCCU members. 2 The information will be collected from
economically vulnerable consumers who consent to participate in this research study. The target
population for this survey collection is low-income, underserved consumers who are considered
under-banked, or have thin or no credit files and therefore have financial services needs that may
not be met. We will collect information about the financial health of these consumers, such as
the amount of money they hold in savings, their credit score, and the size of their debt to income
ratio. We will also collect information about their financial capability. The purpose of this data
collection effort is to understand whether the Credit Matters Loan and Credit Matters counseling
have an impact on asset building and financial capability.

A.

Justification

1. Circumstances Necessitating the Data Collection
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act)
established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to regulate consumer financial
products or services under federal consumer financial laws. The statutory objectives for the
CFPB include ensuring that “markets for consumer financial products and services operate
transparently and efficiently to facilitate access and innovation.” 3 The Dodd-Frank Act also
establishes that a function of the Bureau includes “providing information, guidance, and
technical assistance regarding the offering and provision of consumer financial products or
services to traditionally underserved consumers and communities.” 4 The Office of Financial
Empowerment within the CFPB is responsible for improving the financial capability of
economically-vulnerable consumers, including those who are low-income and underserved. To
that end, Office of Financial Empowerment seeks to foster a marketplace that meets the financial
needs of these consumers, through responsible product and service innovation and programs that
1

BALANCE is an organization that partners with community banks and credit unions to offer credit counseling and
financial education to its members.
2
Economically vulnerable consumers include those who are low-income, underserved, and have limited to no
access to credit.
3 12 U.S.C. § 5511(b)(5).
4 12 U.S.C. § 5493(b)(2).

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build the financial capability of these consumers.
The Office of Financial Empowerment at the CFPB is interested in understanding innovative
programs, such as bundled products that combine two products together in order to accomplish a
dual goal or provide easy access to a secondary product (e.g., short-term loans that require
savings) and integrated service delivery, which combines services together in order to achieve
better outcomes (e.g., offering financial counseling at a job training center), that are aimed at
serving economically-vulnerable consumers. Despite the growing use of these products and
services, evidence from rigorous research studies that show whether or not these programs
improve the financial stability of economically vulnerable consumers is scarce. Without
adequate evidence of what works, it is difficult to understand the impact these products have on
consumers, how best to improve the effectiveness and quality of such products and services, and
how best to improve consumer outcomes. Therefore, the Office of Financial Empowerment is
requesting approval from the Office of Management and Budget to conduct a randomized
evaluation of the Credit Matters Loan offered SLCCU, aimed at economically-vulnerable
consumers, to test whether this product improves savings, credit, and the financial health of these
consumers. CFPB has contracted with the RAND Corporation, a non-profit research institute,
and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a non-profit evaluation organization, to carry out
these evaluations.
The evaluation also contributes to the statutory objectives for the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau related to economically underserved consumers, including:
• Ensuring that “markets for consumer financial products and services operate
transparently and efficiently to facilitate access and innovation” 12 U.S.C. § 5511(b)(5);
• Establishment of a unit whose functions include “researching, analyzing, and reporting
on…experiences of traditionally underserved consumers, including un-banked and underbanked consumers.” 12 U.S.C. § 5493(b)(1)(F);
• Establishment of a unit whose functions include “providing information, guidance, and
technical assistance regarding the offering and provision of consumer financial products
or services to traditionally underserved consumers and communities.” 12 U.S.C. §
5493(b)(2).

2. Use of the Information
The Office of Financial Empowerment wishes to engage in this evaluation to increase its
understanding of whether programs that are designed to build the financial capability of
economically vulnerable consumers through bundled products and counseling have positive
outcomes for those consumers. Positive outcomes for consumers include but are not limited to:
1) the building of credit, 2) the building of savings, 3) a transition from products and services
that are more costly and less secure, to those that are safer, more affordable, and provide
mechanisms to build wealth and access to credit, and 4) improved financial capability as
demonstrated by improved understanding of one’s balance sheet, and necessary decisions to
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build and protect one’s assets.
We propose using a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of three financial
capability interventions on economically vulnerable consumers: (1) the Credit Matters Loan, a
bundled credit-building loan product available at St. Louis Community Credit Union (SLCCU),
(2) Credit Matters Counseling offered over the telephone by BALANCE Financial Fitness
Program, and (3) nudges to continue making loan payments into savings after loan expiration.
The Credit Matters Loan is the intervention of primary interest.
Six categories of data will be collected from SLCCU credit union members who consent to
participate in the research study: 5 1) credit reports, including credit score, 2) credit union
account data, including savings balance, 3) credit counseling usage data, 4) other savings
(including informal savings and savings in other institutions), 5) measures of financial capability,
and 6) demographic characteristics. Specifically, data will be collected in the form of
administrative data from SLCCU and BALANCE, credit report information from TransUnion,
and survey data from questionnaires. Administrative data, such as savings account usage and
balances, credit scores, and debt repayment will be transferred from SLCCU, BALANCE, and
the credit bureau using secure data transfer processes in cases when personally-identifiable
information (PII) is included. Survey data will be collected by research staff members in person
for the baseline survey, and over the telephone for the follow-up survey. 6 Administrative data
will be collected in all cases where it is available, and survey data is intended to supplement
administrative data collection.
Data and information resulting from these evaluations will add to the body of knowledge
regarding the effectiveness of bundled financial products and financial counseling, specifically
for economically vulnerable consumers. This will also provide the Office of Financial
Empowerment with better information on how best to improve the effectiveness and quality of
financial capability programs for economically-vulnerable consumers, and therefore improve
consumer outcomes. For example, if the evaluation were to demonstrate that the Credit Matters
Loan effectively builds credit scores and/or savings, without significant cost to the consumer or
the financial service provider, financial service providers would understand the importance of
offering them at scale.
The information collected as part of this study will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the
three financial capability interventions on economically vulnerable consumers as noted above.
The findings of this study will not be generalizable to other financial counseling programs or
otherwise make inferences beyond the studied population.

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The Appendix contains the Informed Consent form.
The endline survey is not included in this submission. This will be submitted after the baseline survey has been
fielded, allowing for the incorporation of any pertinent edits or additional (or replacement) questions of particular
relevance to the specific sample population.
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3. Use of Information Technology
In all data collection efforts, we will rely on automated and electronic data transfer when it is
available. For example, we will collect account usage and balance data by electronically
transferring this data from the participating organization/institution. This is intended to reduce
the burden of data collection on consumers. In some cases, survey data will need to be collected
in person in order to collect information that cannot be captured by administrative data, such as
informal savings levels and measures of financial capability. Any surveys that will be
administered to consumers over the telephone or in person will be limited to an estimated 15
minute completion time or less.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
As a precursor to these evaluations, the Office of Financial Empowerment sponsored an
environmental scan of existing and ongoing evaluations of financial capability programs. The
search identified 19 ongoing evaluations from the expert interviews, online searches and requests
for information from funders [see Table 1]. This effort was undertaken to help guide the decision
about which programs are eligible for evaluation and to avoid evaluating programs or types of
programs that are already involved in rigorous existing evaluations. The search of ongoing
evaluations revealed a need for more rigorous evaluations of products and services that build
assets for economically-vulnerable consumers. Even though there are ongoing evaluations of
these types of products, very few of the existing evaluations use rigorous designs to inform
policy making in the area. In addition, our evaluation will focus on a type of product that has
never been evaluated.
5. Efforts to Minimize Burdens on Small Entities
The majority of information will be collected directly from consumers. The research team will
carry the majority of the burden for the evaluation (e.g., recruiting participants, collecting data,
etc.) thereby limiting the burden on the participating institutions (SLCCU and BALANCE
Financial Fitness Program). Some limited data will be collected from the participating
institutions and they may bear minor additional costs, but will be voluntarily engaged in the
evaluations for the purposes of learning /evaluating the effectiveness of the programs they are
offering.
6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection and Obstacles to Burden Reduction
Absent this rigorous evaluation of financial capability programs, the Office of Financial
Empowerment will lack the data necessary for understanding whether the growing trend of
bundling financial capability products for economically vulnerable consumers in the form of
credit-building loans leads to improved outcomes.
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7. Circumstances Requiring Special Information Collection
This request is consistent with the general information collection guidelines of 5 CFR
1320.5(d)(2). No special circumstances apply.
8. Consultation Outside the Agency
The RAND/IPA project team and advisors were consulted on this project. A list of these persons
is provided below (full contact details for these individuals can be found in Section B.5 of this
document):
Outside research, academic, and practitioner experts were consulted at various stages of the
initial phase of the project in order to inform the selection of topics and sites to be evaluated.
This includes:
1) Research panel members who participated in a webinar and provided ongoing support
throughout the project came from the following institutions and organizations:
a. George Washington University
b. University of Maryland
c. University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School
d. Ohio State University
e. CredAbility
f. RiteCheck
g. Harvard University
h. Community Financial Resources
i. Neighborhood Trust
j. University of Chicago
k. National University of Singapore
2) Individuals who shared their knowledge of relevant products and services for inclusion in
the environmental scan came from the following institutions and organizations:
a. University of Wisconsin
b. National Foundation for Credit Counseling
c. Family Foundations
d. Rural Dynamics
e. Mission Asset Fund
f. Credit Builders Alliance
g. The Financial Clinic
h. Corporation for Enterprise Development
i. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.
j. Self-Help Federal Credit Union
k. D2D Fund
l. Filene Research Institute
m. New America Foundation
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n. Consumer Credit Counseling Services
o. National Endowment for Financial Education
p. USDA, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Division of Family and
Consumer Sciences
q. Opportunity to Assets
r. National Credit Union Administration
s. US Department of Treasury Community Development Financial Institution Fund
t. US Department of Treasury Office of Financial Education
u. US Department of Health & Human Services Office of the Administration for
Children and Families
v. National Credit Union Administration
w. HelloWallet
x. Emerge Workplace Solutions
3) Individuals who shared their knowledge about barriers to savings and recommended
programs for evaluation came from the following institutions and organizations:
a. Saint Louis University
b. CredAbility
c. RiteCheck
d. Center for Financial Services Innovation
e. University of Washington
f. University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
g. The Urban Institute
h. Doorways to Dreams Fund
i. Northwestern University
j. Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners
k. Dartmouth College
In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), on August 8, 2013, the Bureau published a notice in the
Federal Register allowing the public 60 days to comment on this proposed new collection of
information. Further and in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.5(a)(1)(iv), the Bureau has published a
notice in the Federal Register allowing the public 30 days to comment on the submission of this
information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget.
Two sets of comments were received by OMB during the 60-day notice period: from William
Martin (Madera Realty and Mortgage), and Robert J. Batson, III (Community Financial Services
of America (CFSA)). Here we describe a summary of the comments and our responses (the full
set of comments are included in the Appendix).
William Martin’s comments stated a concern that the Credit Matters Loan wrongly seeks to build
credit when there is a stronger need for low-income wage-earners to build savings.
The research team response is four-fold: (1) Our evaluation seeks to measure the impact of the
loan product through a rigorous randomized controlled trial methodology. Objective evaluation
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of this product is not an endorsement. However, credit-building loan products like the Credit
Matters Loan at SLCCU are proliferating in the marketplace as solutions for economically
vulnerable consumers that wish to build or repair their credit. It is thus critical that their impact is
better understood for evidence-based policy and practice. (2) The Credit Matters Loan is a
bundled product which also seeks to build savings. During the course of the 12-month loan term,
SLCCU members are encouraged not to draw down on savings that are moving from restricted
withdrawal to unrestricted withdrawal. Our evaluation seeks to determine to what extent SLCCU
members who adopt the Credit Matters Loan also build savings. (3) While building savings is
critical to financial security, subprime credit scores can restrict consumers in a myriad of ways,
for example by pushing them toward debt that is more expensive in the long run. Our evaluation
seeks to determine what the impacts of the Credit Matters Loan are on credit scores, as well as
what the long-run impacts of building credit scores for economically vulnerable consumers are.
(4) If a consumer is unable to make their monthly payment for the Credit Matters Loan, the loan
is simply closed. This is possible because the loan is initially secured not by the credit union
member, but by SLCCU. Thus, if the member is unable to make a monthly payment, SLCCU
simply closes the loan and retains the remaining funds they had initially placed in the member’s
account with restricted access. Only positive payments are reported to the credit bureau, and the
credit union member cannot be left with an outstanding debt burden by means of adoption of the
Credit Matters Loan.
The comments from Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) indicate a
concern that (1) there is an underlying assumption in the supporting statement suggesting bias,
(2) not enough specific information is being included in the information collection, and (3)
payday lending is being misrepresented in the bank of potential survey questions. On the first
point, CFSA is concerned that the statement in the abstract regarding the target population
indicates an underlying assumption by the study that consumers who choose not to obtain credit
through traditional means consider their financial services needs to be unmet. We have adjusted
the statement to indicate that the target population “may” not have their financial service needs
met.
Regarding the second point, CFSA is concerned that the survey questions are too general and
that there is not enough information about the study participants. Our response is that the 30 day
posting contains the more detailed information being requested. First, this submission includes
the specific survey instrument that has been piloted and will be used in the study. The questions
in the instrument include some of the questions from the “Sample Question Bank” that was
posted with the 60 day notice, and also include additional questions relevant to the study. The
study will use a randomized encouragement design to form treatment and comparison groups to
examine the efficacy of the Credit Matters Loan. Because these groups will be formed randomly,
the composition of the treatment and control groups will be statistically identical to the
composition of the credit union membership, conditional on having selected into the study.
Further, because we seek to understand the types of consumers who chose to take up bundled
products, and the impact of these products on savings behavior, we believe all of our survey
questions are justified.
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Finally, regarding the concerns about the inclusion of payday loans in the survey bank, the only
question that refers to payday loans in the final survey instrument is regarding total debt. All
other questions regarding payday loans have been removed from the survey bank.
9. Payments or Gifts to Respondents
Money incentives in the form of a $5 gift card will be offered to encourage credit union members
to participate in the study and complete the baseline survey. Participants will have the choice
between a gift card to a grocery store or gas station (with attached convenience store). We will
also provide a similar gift card to study participants who complete the follow-up telephone
survey 12 months after the baseline survey.
10. Assurances of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents
The standard privacy provisions of the programs of the sponsoring institutions will apply.
Respondents will be given the opportunity to provide informed consent verbally. Informed
consent will cover the collection of survey data and administrative data in the form of credit
reports, financial administrative data from SLCCU, and administrative data on whether study
participants completed a Credit Matters counseling session with BALANCE. Data will be
treated as private, unless otherwise compelled by law. Directly identifying PII (such as
respondent names, address, date of birth) will not be made available to the CFPB and the study’s
briefs and reports will not identify any specific individual level information. Researchers will
take appropriate steps to secure all PII to reduce the risk of breach of privacy by following
RAND’s guidelines for treating sensitive information. RAND’s guidelines identify six levels of
sensitivity with corresponding levels of security for storing, transferring and disposing of
sensitive information. Secured storage of information includes limiting access to a set number of
researchers and keeping the data in a locked environment. Secure file transmissions will be done
using the Accellion sftp server, a secure file transfer FIPS 140-2 certified appliances residing in
the contractor’s facilities. The Accellion provides account maintenance, verification of transfer
integrity and notifications of transfer events to ensure a reliable exchange of sensitive data. Data
sent to the contractor is encrypted during transmission and encrypted at rest while on the
Accellion. Each site is assigned a single login ID and password that provides access to a secure
Accellion workspace where they place data. Examples of proper disposal of sensitive data
include the use of secure file deletion software that deletes the files and overwrites all empty
space on the disk a minimum of 3 times.
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions
In many instances, with the consumers’ consent, the researchers will access data that is already
collected as part of SLCCU administrative procedure. This includes Personally Identifiable
Information (PII) in the form of Social Security Number (SSN).
SSNs are being collected in order to match respondents most accurately for the collection of
credit report data. SSNs (along with name, birthdate, and address) will be securely transmitted to
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a credit bureau that will output credit report data to the research team based on these identifying
data points. SSNs will not be kept longer than necessary to perform this match. The most
important outcome measures for the study will come from credit report data so it is critical for
the quality of the research to match as many respondents as possible and successfully collect this
credit report data. Respondents will be informed that credit reports will be collected as part of
this data collection, and that their consent to participate is completely voluntary.
In accordance with section 7 of the Privacy Act, the collection of SSN will not lead to any
Federal, State or local government agency denying to any individual any right, benefit, or
privilege provided by law because of an individual's refusal to disclose his social security
account number. When SSNs are not available from credit union administrative data, there will
be no negative repercussions for the study participant as a result of the research.
Researchers will need to supplement credit union administrative data with surveys of
participants. The surveys will ask questions related to personal financial behavior, such as
amount of savings, amount of debt at the household level, spending behavior and other personal
financial information. Researchers will need this information to assess financial outcomes and
financial behavior relating to participation in the financial capability program. Because
individuals will be randomly assigned to the treatment (encouraged to adopt loan) or control (not
encouraged to adopt loan) group, we need to collect the sensitive information at the individual
level, and aggregate data is not sufficient. The survey information will include Personally
Identifiable Information (PII), such as name, phone number, mailing address, unique member
identifier, and account number. PII will not be shared with the CFPB; rather, data shared with
the CFPB will be stripped of identifying information.
Public Law 111-203, Title X, Sections 1013 and 1022, codified at 12 U.S.C. 5493 and 5512
allows for the data collection under this study.
No citation is provided for a System of Records Notice (SORN) because this is not applicable as this
project does not require a SORN.
The CFPB is currently evaluating this information collection to determine if a Privacy Impact Assessment
is necessary. If the Bureau determines that a PIA is necessary, it will be published on the Bureau’s
website, www.consumerfinance.gov/privacy-office.

12. Estimated Burden of Information Collection
In Exhibits 1 and 2, we provide estimates of the collection burden on study participants. Since
these evaluations will involve engaging those who are voluntarily members of SLCCU, we only
included those elements that are an additional burden due to the evaluation.

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EXHIBIT 1. ESTIMATE OF ANNUALIZED TIME BURDEN TO RESPONDENTS
Number of
Participants

Number of
Responses
Per Respondent

Total
Responses

Average
Burden per
Response
(in hours)

2,500

1

2,500

.08

2,500
2,500
///////////

1
1
////////////////////

2,500
2,500
7,500

.30
.30
/////////////

Total
Burden
Hours

Evaluation 1
Consent
Baseline Survey
Endline Survey
Total

200
750
750
1,700

EXHIBIT 2. ESTIMATE OF ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOUR COST TO RESPONDENTS
Number of
Participants

Total burden
hours

Average hourly
wage rate(1)

Total cost
burden

2,500

200

$13.76

$2,752

2,500
2,500
////////////////

750
750
/////////////////

$13.76
$13.76
/////////////////

$2,752
$2,752
$8,256

Evaluation 1
Consent
Baseline Survey
Endline Survey
Total

(1) Average hourly wage was derived from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics (OES)
survey, using the 37th percentile (Average hourly rates available at http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm)

13. Estimated Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Recordkeepers
Data collection for this study will not result in any additional capital, start-up, maintenance, or
purchase costs to participants.
14. Estimated Cost to the Federal Government
CFPB is supporting the conduct of this evaluation as part of the contract with the assistance of
two contracting institutions. The estimated cost for this work including design, fieldwork, data
collection, and analysis will be $849,536.

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15. Program Changes or Adjustments
This is a new data collection.
16. Plans for Tabulation, Statistical Analysis, and Publication
Tabulation Plans
Starting Date

Ending Date

Baseline Survey

5/12/14

7/18/14

Baseline Analysis
Endline Survey
Final Analysis

7/21/14
6/15/15
9/14/15

1/12/15
8/21/15
11/02/15

Draft Date

Final Date

Publication Plans

Baseline Analysis
Report
RAND Report

1/12/15

9/15/14
11/2/15

12/14/15

Project Time Schedule
The estimated timeline for the project, including the data collection detailed in this request for
OMB approval is shown below. The timeline calls for data collection to begin in Spring 2014
and end by Fall 2015. Draft and final reports will be due in Winter 2015.
Task/Activity

Deliverable

OMB Clearance

Submit OMB Package

Data Collection for Baseline
Survey
Preliminary Results on
Program Take-Up and
Group Characteristics
Data Collection for Endline
Data
Produce Final Results
Final Report

Due Date

Interim Project Report

02/04/14
06/22/14
07/22/15
08/25/15
12/12/15

Report on data
analysis
Final Report

1/23/16

The final report(s) resulting from this analysis may be distributed externally by the Bureau. These reports
will detail the findings of the study and will contain only aggregated results from the analysis and will not
identify any individual consumer.

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17. Display of Expiration Date
The Bureau plans to display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information
collection on all instruments.

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18. Exceptions to the Certification Requirement
The Bureau certifies that this collection of information is consistent with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.9, and the related provisions
of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3) and is not seeking an exemption to these certification requirements. There are no exceptions to the certification.
Table 1 – Ongoing Evaluations by Program Type, Organization and Evaluation Designrogram Evaluating
Organization

Program

Evaluating
Organization

Program Description

Evaluation Description

Asset Building ‐
Individual and Child
Development
Accounts

Center for Social
Development at
Washington
University

IDAs are matched savings accounts for specific purposes
and CDAs are savings or investment accounts that being
as early as birth designed to allow parents and children
to accumulate savings for post‐secondary education,
homeownership, or business initiatives.

The program is testing a number of hypotheses related to access, incentives,
information and facilitation.

Financial Advisory
Services

CredAbility

Does targeted financial counseling increase assets for individuals who are stable
but living on a cash flow basis?

Save Your Refund

D2D

CredAbility is looking at a new example of financial
counseling that is aimed at people who are stable but
living on a cash flow basis and not accumulating assets.
This program is designed to help these individuals move
from cash flow to asset building.
saveyourrefund.org is a national sweepstakes where
individuals are eligible to win weekly prizes and a grand
prize if they save in the form of a bond or savings
account at tax time

Emergency Gift
Cards

D2D

This is a pilot program in which D2D partners with the
Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union to offer a gift
card that is marketed and packaged to communicate that
its purpose is "for an emergency." The card incorporates
D2D's research that: a) consumers like to gift tangible
savings to their loved ones b) savings behaviors can be
influenced by meeting consumers where they are and
tapping into existing behaviors, and c) consumers are
willing to pay for commoditized savings.

1

Large‐scale demonstrations of asset‐building policy strategies, including the
American Dream Demonstration, the SEED National Initiative, SEED for
Oklahoma Kids, and YouthSave.

What is the take‐up rate & savings generated from the Refunds to Assets
(R2A) program? Is R2A targeting the right population of savers that should be
saving? How can R2A increase its effectiveness in its marketing strategy?
D2D is researching tax‐refund splitting through surveys on individual's savings
behavior, financial preferences, and financial condition. Participants were
randomly assigned into treatment and control groups.
Can savings be commoditized in such a way to help consumers save for a rainy
day?
D2D is exploring two different branding messages, a "safe" design where funds
can be "unlocked" when an emergency hits and a "rainy day" design where
consumers can "protect" loved ones from a rainy day.D2D is also interested in
understanding consumer usage of the funds and the ability of features to help
manage any self‐control issues. D2D will explore features that create some
barriers to usage, such as requiring consumers to “break the seal” to access an

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Clarifi

Innovations for
Poverty Action

BoLT (Borrow Less
Tomorrow)

Innovations for
Poverty Action

Commitment
Contracts + financial
education

Innovations for
Poverty Action

Cestas Populares

Field Experiment on
the Impacts of
Financial Planning
Interventions for
Recent Homebuyers

In Clarifi's debt management/debt reduction program,
Clarifi works with creditors on debtor's behalf to lower
payments and reduce or eliminate late fees. Clarifi sets
up a monthly payment plan where debtor makes a single
monthly payment to Clarifi, and Clarifi disburses that
payment appropriately to creditors. In this intervention,
DMP has behavioral economic modifications added ‐
peer support and/or regular reminders.
Community Action Project (Tulsa, Oklahoma) free tax‐
preparation service + BoLT intervention

Mission Asset
Fund

Financial Education + commitment contracts at
Neighborhood Trust (NYC) and District Government
Employees' Federal Credit Union (DC): The Super Saver
CD (SSCD) is a balance building CD whereby the client
makes an initial commitment to save a goal amount (up
to $10,000) within a customizable maturity term (up to
18 months), by making weekly or monthly deposits
towards that goal. Clients can start with a low initial
deposit of $15. As with a traditional CD, once funds are
deposited into the SSCD they cannot be withdrawn by
the owner without closing the CD and forfeiting
accumulated interest and the initial $15 deposit.
Peer loan coupled with product‐specific peer led
education

The Ohio State
University and
UW‐Madison

Financial planning strategies for low‐ and moderate‐
income families and individuals during a critical financial
event purchasing their first home

activation code, call a 1‐800 phone number before the funds can be activated, or
allow the giver to unlock the funds for the receiver.
Does the program increase the financial capability of low to moderate income
individuals and families struggling with debt?
Randomized control trial in which a sample of clients who join the Debt
Management Plan (DMP) to repay debts through Clarifi will receive peer support
and/or regular reminders to stick to budgets and
DMPs.
Does BoLT, a behavioral approach to debt reduction that combines a simple
decision aid, social commitment, and reminders for accelerated debt
repayment plans at tax‐time, ultimately reduce credit card debt? Randomized
controlled trial ‐ random assignment of tax‐preparers who consent to survey and
soft credit report pulls to receive BoLT offer or not, with baseline credit reports
identifying those with a potentially suitable debt. Credit reports collected to see
if Bolt reduces credit card debt, auto balances or broader outcomes (credit
scores, delinquency, line of credit utilization, or number of active debts) over 12‐
month horizon.
Does a combination of financial education and commitment contracts in
promoting higher levels of saving, reduced reliance on credit card debt
and healthier financial portfolios among low‐income individuals in the United
States (as it has been shown to do in the developing world)?
Randomized controlled trial ‐ random assignment of clients into three groups ‐
Super Saver CD offer, one on‐ one financial counseling offer, no offer
(comparison group), to evaluate the effectiveness of commitment contracts and
financial education to encourage sound financial behavior.

Does the loan help immigrants build credit and manage credit wisely?
The 2 year evaluation documents the financial, personal, and economic progress
of participants. The evaluation, which is not a randomized controlled trial, is
being conducted by the Cesar E. Chavez Institute.
What type of financial planning intervention ‐ online financial assessment tool,
interactive financial education modules, and telephone based financial coaching
‐ is most effective?
Evaluated through a randomized field experiment a pilot group of 600
homebuyers will be randomly assigned to different combinations of financial
planning interventions that are to be completed during the first year after home

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MAGIC Mojo

UNC Center for
Community
Capital

MAGIC Mojo links a savings account to a MAGIC prepaid
card and allows cardholders to make deposits through
text messaging.

University of
Wisconsin‐
Extension, the
Center for
Financial Security

The MSiHS program offers a mixture of three
financial literacy interventions—monthly
newsletters, financial education workshops,
and financial coaching—to parents with
children enrolled in Head Start or Early Head
Start.

Financial Coaching

Urban Institute

Financial coaching

Assets for
Independence

Urban Institute

Urban Institute is conducting an RCT evaluation of HHS's
Assets for Independence, the federally funded program
that supports IDAs.

Field Studies of
Financial Coaching's
Capacity to Facilitate
Behavior Change

UW‐Madison
Center for
Financial Security

Financial coaching

Prepaid Debit Card
Take‐Up and Use
Among Lower‐
Income Households

UW‐Madison
Center for
Financial Security,
Center for
Economic
Progress
UW‐Madison
Center for
Financial Security,
New York City
Department of
Consumer Affairs
Office of Financial
Empowerment
UW‐Madison
Center for
Financial Security;

In partnership with the Center for Economic Progress in
Chicago, the Center for Financial Security is exploring the
take‐up and use of prepaid debit cards among Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance clients.

Money $mart in
Head Start (MSiHS)

Impact of Financial
Counseling on
Financial Stability

Assessing Financial
Capability
Outcomes: Money FI‐

Financial Counseling and Financial education
workshops

4th and 5th grade students receive personal finance
instruction. Some students have savings account access
through an in‐school credit union branch.

3

purchase. Ongoing follow‐up with homebuyers and outcome evaluation will be
completed in subsequent years.
Is "impulse savings" ‐ transferring money from a transaction account to savings
account via text message ‐ an effective way for under‐banked people to build
savings?
By examining MAGIC Mojo data, Center researchers will examine who uses
impulse savings, how long they use it and how much they save.
Is money smart effective in building financial capability?
Families are invited to participate in the program at the start of the school year
through Head Start staff or through UW‐Extension educators at Head Start
events. Households are asked to complete a survey about their financial
behaviors, knowledge, confidence, and interest in participating in financial
coaching. Follow‐up surveys are mailed in the spring.
Randomized Control trial examining effectiveness of different financial coaching
programs.
Does the Assets for Independence program improve savings? Which features are
most effective?
Randomized control trial examining how design features of IDAs affect savings.
How does coaching encourages behavior change and facilitates goal attainment?
The evaluation uses data gathered from multiple financial coaching programs
across the country to see how the different programs affect behavior change
and facilitates goal attainment.
Does peer behavior boost take‐up and use of prepaid debit cards among
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance clients?
Randomized Controlled Trial: The study will be randomized and will test whether
marketing that emphasizes peer behavior, all else equal, boosts take‐up.
The evaluators are examining whether one‐on‐one financial counseling has
added value for individuals seeking financial advice relative to financial
education workshops.
This evaluation uses credit report and survey data to provide a comprehensive
picture of counseling’s impacts on financial knowledge, behavior, and outcomes.
This allows direct comparisons between individuals who receive one‐on‐one
financial counseling and those who attend financial education workshops.
Do students learn more from finance instruction when they have savings
account access through the in‐school credit union branch than when they do
not?

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T (Financial
Instruction for
Teachers)

CFED

Teachers receive training to provide personal finance curriculum to students in
the areas of saving, personal money management, financial decision-making,
and banking services. Pilot project

Program Description Research Question Evaluation Description

4