Cross-Sector Partnership Aims to Serve Lower Income Workers’ Savings Goals While Making a Profit

The fintech startup ecosystem can put heavy pressure on exponential growth, often at the expense of being able to take up a social impact mission. But innovative fintech startup Flourish Savings is finding another way to build a scalable and profitable fintech while also serving a financially vulnerable population.

With that in mind, mission-based nonprofit Commonwealth and fintech startup Flourish Savings announce a partnership in which Commonwealth will help support Flourish in its vision to create tools that facilitate emergency savings and financial stability for lower- and moderate-income people. Researchers at Commonwealth and the human-centered product team at Flourish will work closely to share data and insights designed to address their shared goals of transforming the way people manage their finances, helping people build positive financial habits and designing solutions that can make people financially secure. 

This work directly addresses the emergency savings crisis currently facing the 40+ percent of American adults who would be unable to cover a $400 emergency, according to the Federal Reserve.

Commonwealth will also provide Flourish with a modest amount of development capital, will help test and develop new tools, and will share their industry-leading consumer insights into the financially vulnerable population, a group that is often un- or under-banked and therefore not represented well in data used by fintech startups. 

“We are excited to partner with a fintech startup that so closely shares our values,” says Commonwealth Executive Director Timothy Flacke. “This partnership will allow us to gain a closer understanding of the process and pain points for fintech startups with a social impact mission, providing us with a roadmap towards serving these startups better in our philosophy of cross-pollination between the non- and for-profit sectors. It also provides an outlet for our deep knowledge and understanding of the savings tools available to the financially vulnerable, supported by decades of research.”

With two decades of experience in researching and creating savings tools and opportunities for the financially vulnerable, Commonwealth has a deep understanding of the solutions that can support lower- and moderate-income Americans. As members of Nonprofit Leaders in Financial Technology (nLIFT), Commonwealth has access to industry-leading, evolving research on what works and doesn’t when it comes to increasing financial inclusion through technology-driven platforms.

Flourish Savings, which already utilizes tools endorsed by Commonwealth like gamification and prize-linked savings, will provide Commonwealth researchers with the direct, real-world experience of entrepreneurs and their customer base, while providing a broad window into the savings tools and experiences of consumers newer to the US financial system currently targeted by the startup.

“A unique feature of Flourish Savings is our focus on making savings attainable and fun for more people,” says Flourish Savings CEO Pedro Moura. “We are thrilled to partner with Commonwealth, an organization that understands the importance of a social impact mission and believes it can go hand-in-hand with profitability. We look forward to proving that there is a better way to fund and develop fintech startups–a third way–that yields both profitability and social impact.”

About Commonwealth

Commonwealth strengthens the financial opportunity and security of financially vulnerable people by discovering ideas, piloting solutions and driving innovations to scale. Our work has enabled 550,000 Americans to save over $2 billion. We collaborate with consumers, the financial services industry, policy makers and mission-driven organizations to build solutions that make people financially secure. Learn more at www.buildcommonwealth.org.

About Flourish Savings

Flourish exists to help people achieve their goals and dreams, without personal finance being a barrier. We are starting by making short-term savings attainable and fun for first generation financial citizens in the United States, and we hope to shape the way people interact with their finances around the world.