- The Center for Financial Services Innovation
The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) is a nonprofit financial services consultancy headquartered in
Chicago , specializing in serving unbanked and underbanked consumers (that is to say, people without bank accounts). It has been characterized as a national leader in research for the underbanked. [http://www.philanthromedia.org/archives/2008/02/empowering_the_unbanked_with_f.html]History
An affiliate of
ShoreBank Corporation, CFSI grew out of a research project conducted in2002 by a division ofShoreBank on behalf of theFord Foundation to examine the gap between supply and demand of financial services for low-income consumers as well as potential strategies to close it. The project [Ellen Seidman and Jennifer Tescher, [http://www.cfsinnovation.com/research-paper-detail.php?article_id=20 Unbanked to Homeowner: Improving the Supply of Financial Services for Low-Income, Low-Asset Customers] , Brookings Institution Press, October 2005.] , authored byEllen Seidman andJennifer Tescher showed that millions of Americans are faced with an inadequate supply of well-designed, reasonably-priced financial products and services to both meet short-term needs and provide opportunities for longer-term wealth creation.CFSI was officially launched in 2004. [http://www.atmmarketplace.com/article.php?id=8036&na=1]
Work
CFSI serves the industry in three primary ways: as an educator, conducting research and disseminating it widely; as a broker, connecting people and organizations within the industry; and as investor, funding both for-profits and nonprofits. [http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/mar/02/0302_altfinside/]
It has partnered with tax preparation firms to help underbanked consumers file their taxes. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_Sept_20/ai_n15398514]
It regularly provides research grants for financial services researchers. [http://www.socialedge.org/features/opportunities/archive/2008/02/16/weblogentry.2008-02-14.8407715751] [http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS134534+12-Feb-2008+BW20080212]
It has researched mobile-banking in connection to the underbanked. [http://www.paymentsnews.com/2007/04/cfsi_releases_n.html]
It is the sponsor of the annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum, the leading event in this industry. [http://www.insuranceheadlines.com/Financial-Services/2568.html]
References
ee also
*
ShoreBank
*Political and Economic Research Council -- a Chapel Hill, NC-based think tank dealing in the same issue areaExternal links
* [http://www.cfsinnovation.com/ CFSI website]
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