Financial Solutions Lab

Technology offers tremendous potential to expand access to safe, affordable financial products and services for consumers across a range of incomes, languages and geographies. At the center of our commitment to improving financial health is the Financial Solutions Lab, a 10-year, $60 million initiative managed by the Financial Health Network that supports innovative ideas to improve financial health. The Financial Solutions Lab has three main areas of programming:

An accelerator focused on financial health which holds an annual competition to identify, test and scale products and services that address the needs of underserved communities
A meeting place for interested nonprofit organizations and fintech providers to explore collaboration and exchange insights to maximize their collective impact on the communities they serve
A collaborative initiative which focuses on identifying and exploring new, innovative solutions that are not yet available in the market to address unmet financial health needs

Financial Solutions Lab 2021 Accelerator Cohort

Esusu (New York, NY) offers a financial technology platform that empowers tenants and improves property performance. Esusu’s rent reporting platform captures rental payment data and reports it to credit bureaus to boost renters’ credit scores. This allows renters to build and establish their credit scores while helping property owners increase revenue, prevent evictions, and fill more vacancies powered by differentiated data and insights.

Everyday Life (Boston, MA) removes barriers to buying life insurance, including high premiums, complicated products, and opaque underwriting, enabling more people to protect their families with life insurance coverage. They’re on a mission to provide life insurance for everyone who needs it by saving people money with personalized policies that automatically adjust as their needs change.

Home Lending Pal (Orlando, FL) uses artificial intelligence and blockchain to improve the mortgage lending process for consumers, with a focus on underserved first-time home buyers. Utilizing standard underwriting information, AI tools evaluate customers’ financial situations, simulate underwriting and, upon their request, match them with prospective lenders. Home Lending Pal’s blockchain network gives borrowers control of their data and ensures a smooth, transparent approval process for all stakeholders by using smart contracts.

Leap Fund (New York, NY) is a nonprofit that helps public benefits recipients navigate benefits cliffs (becoming ineligible for public benefits due to an increase in wages or hours worked). Leap Fund accomplishes this by empowering workers to identify and avoid cliffs, and ultimately aims to eliminate benefits cliffs altogether, all while creating pathways towards self-sufficiency and financial independence.

Lifesaver (New York, NY) enables credit unions and community banks to provide an advanced mobile banking experience for their customers. Through Lifesaver, consumers gain expanded visibility into their banks’ offerings and access to a wider set of additional financial management tools focused on financial health.

Sigo (Jersey City, NJ) provides a mobile-first platform that delivers affordable access to auto insurance customized for Latinx, immigrant, and working-class customers. Their offering is fully bilingual and their underwriting process does not use credit score, employment, or education.

Upsolve (Brooklyn, NY) is a nonprofit that empowers low-income and working-class families navigating financial distress to file for bankruptcy for free using an online web app, without needing to afford a lawyer or legal fees. To date, Upsolve has relieved over $300 million in debt for families suffering from medical bills and job loss by providing free access to bankruptcy and legal assistance, and financial education.

Making an Impact Through the Financial Solutions Lab

To date, the Financial Solutions Lab has supported more than 40 financial technology companies from more than 1,600 total applicants. Cohort alumni are offering innovative financial products that reach over 4.5 million people in the U.S. and have seen 20 times user growth since joining the Financial Solutions Lab. Collectively, the companies have raised over $500 million in capital since joining the program and have helped U.S. residents save over $1 billion.

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Our Model for Impact