Commonwealth & JPMorgan Chase partner to boost technology innovations for financially vulnerable Americans
By Pavithra R
Commonwealth, building solutions to make people financially secure, has announced that the firm has partnered with JPMorgan Chase to address the challenges and opportunities that emerging technologies present to lower- and moderate-income people’s financial lives.
Emerging technology is re-shaping the financial landscape, and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated its disruption. According to CCAF’s Global AI in Financial Services Survey, 64% of financial services executives expect to become mass adopters of AI, and 77% expect AI to be an essential driver across the industry within 2 years. Lower-income workers are already experiencing barriers to financial services. Commonwealth data shows 43% of lower-income workers do not have a savings account. But as social impact innovators and FinTechs progress towards folding technology like artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics into their products, a significant risk exists.
As part of the 2-year initiative, Commonwealth will conduct research, understand and document the financial market for financially vulnerable people, examining usage patterns of emerging technologies with a focus on how they garner trust. The initiative is built on Commonwealth’s prior work with JPMorgan Chase, which tested savings tools for lower-wage workers.
The project will also include discussions and collaboration with critical stakeholders, FinTechs, and experts in emerging technology and findings will be disseminated through digital assets and events including a private stakeholder convening and a public webinar.
Data will be disaggregated by race, age and gender, and will consider the role of place, recognizing that economic disruptions often have different impacts across communities. As part of this effort, nonprofit innovators and FinTechs will field-test research findings on the ground with their financially vulnerable consumers to produce accurate, nuanced insights.
“Emerging technology will play a central role in the post-COVID economy–but the question is, will this hurt or help America’s most financially vulnerable? A time of disruption provides an opportunity to include new people in the financial system–but only if technology is intentionally designed and distributed based on a thorough understanding of the needs and aspirations of these customers,” said Commonwealth Co-Founder and Executive Director Timothy Flacke.
Commonwealth has plans to produce tools and resources that inform and influence social impact innovators and FinTechs to harness the power of emerging technologies like big data analytics and AI in a way that addresses the needs of financially vulnerable Americans.
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