MetLife and Duke University have teamed up to form the Common Cents, a financial research lab supported by the MetLife foundation, to help address the needs of 1.8 million low-to-moderate income (LMI) households in America. We always find it interesting when the wealthy, in this case a well-endowed private university and a mega insurance corporation, want to tackle the issue of poverty. The press release actually links to the "Center for Advanced Hindsight" (okay....) which operates both the Common Cents and Startup Labs (an academic incubator in health and finance). The site specifically notes that Common Cents is supported by the MetLife foundation. Making it all the more interesting, is the fact that their offices are on the "American Tobacco Campus" in Durham (yup, it's still in North Carolina, land of tobacco).
"Common Cents Lab, a financial research lab at Duke University supported by MetLife Foundation, today unveiled the 16 new behavioral design partners selected for its work in 2017. Each year, the lab collaborates with chosen financial services providers to custom design, test, and launch new features and products that aim to increase financial well-being for 1.8 million low- to moderate-income (LMI) households in America.
"In our first year, we showed how behavioral interventions can influence positive, measurable improvements in financial well-being," said Common Cents founder, Behavioral Economics Professor, and New York Times bestselling author Dan Ariely. "The response to our 2017 call for applicants is uplifting because it demonstrates a deep industry-wide desire to use behavioral insights in service to LMI households."
These new partner financial organizations represent a mix of the top fintech companies, financial nonprofits, and innovative credit unions, and were chosen from a field of competitive applicants. Their year-long collaboration with Common Cents will focus on interventions that increase short- and long-term savings, improve access to credit, and better manage debt and cash flow.
Fintech partners include:
ActiveHours: provides people access to their paycheck at the tap of a button;
Chime: a bank account that helps members avoid fees and automate their savings;
CoinFlip: instantly reduces the amount shoppers pay on groceries by applying third party funds.
Digital Insight, an NCR Company: provides digital banking solutions to simplify money management;
DoubleNetPay: actionable and automated financial wellness;