People’s financial lives are more deeply interconnected than traditional financial products suggest: income impacts expenses; expenses impact savings; savings impacts borrowing; borrowing impacts expenses; and uncertainty impacts everything.  Products that fail to acknowledge these interdependencies optimize one financial function at the expense of the whole. What might be possible if we combined multiple financial functions—specifically saving and borrowing—into one financial product? This paper makes the case for integrated products, details existing examples of the concept, and describes future product ideas that highlight additional ways to integrate savings and credit for the benefit of consumers.  The goal of this paper is to inform and inspire innovators, and to invite partners to work with Commonwealth to advance these ideas.

• Customers shouldn’t have to think like providers of financial services. They should be able to lead their lives, and turn to well-crafted solutions that address their needs as they arise
• Companies that design and deliver integrated products that truly meet their customers’ needs—as their customers experience them—stand out in a crowded financial services marketplace
• Financial products and services have traditionally been designed and marketed around financial functions—borrow, save, pay or transact, invest, insure—and typically a single financial function. They do not necessarily match the way people experience their financial lives.
• Integrated financial solutions that enable customers to stabilize their financial lives can create satisfied, loyal customers with significant lifetime value