Our Research
Commonwealth conducts original qualitative and quantitative research with financially vulnerable people—including Black, Latinx, and women-led households who disproportionately experience financial insecurity. We also interview industry experts and academics. We take what we learn and translate findings into actionable insights and practical solutions designed to change systems to work better for financially vulnerable people. We work with community groups, employers, financial services firms, fintechs, policymakers, and workplace solution providers to design and test real-world, practical solutions that not only work for individuals and families, but are also scalable and address the business needs of our partners.
We share the results of our work to provide you with innovative ideas, practical insights, and the tools you need to act. Explore our publications below.
SavingsQuest: Creating Savings Through Gamification
Inspired by innovations in the field of health and fitness, SavingsQuest is a gamified savings app based on the principle that every contribution to a savings product, no matter how small, counts. D2D conducted a pilot of the app with…
SaveYourRefund Saving Dreams
Mary Bunch, the SaveYourRefund grand prize winner in 2015, was living paycheck to paycheck until the chance at a cash prize motivated her to put aside a little money at tax time. Not only did she end up winning the…
SaveYourRefund 2015
Summary of results and stories from the SaveYourRefund 2015 campaign
SaveYourRefund 2015 Evaluation Report
This report highlights the Save Your Refund 2015 campaign’s new engagement techniques and shares insights gained. During its third successful year, SaveYourRefund encouraged over 2,800 consumers to enter and save over $2MM in tax refund dollars. “Partner VITA sites encouraged…
Strengthening Financial Opportunity for Consumers
Commonwealth envisions a world where the financial system promotes lasting social and economic prosperity for every family. To make that vision a reality, they use a four-stage innovation process to bring policies and products to market that increase financial security…
Scaling an Emergency Frame and Savings on Prepaid
With unbanked households experiencing the highest growth rate in prepaid card use, innovation in the prepaid industry has the potential to help financially vulnerable Americans. Commonwealth is collaborating with prepaid card providers to build scalable, creative solutions to engage low to…
Save to Win 2014
In 2014, Save to Win continued to see success in 4 states, with Michigan and Nebraska finishing their sixth and fourth years, respectively, and North Carolina and Washington each completing their second year. As of 2014, since the program's inception,…
Save to Win: Michigan 2014
The Michigan Save to Win program completed its sixth year in 2014. This brief contains key highlights and findings from the program year, including: The product was offered in 34 credit unions and there were 10,984 active accounts; 70% of…
Save to Win: North Carolina 2014
In 2014, Save to Win from D2D (now Commonwealth) entered its second year in North Carolina. This brief contains key highlights and findings from the program year, including: The average account balance at the end of the year was $1,991;…
Save to Win: Washington 2014
In 2014, Save to Win entered its second year in Washington. This brief contains key highlights and findings from the program year, including: 1) 88% of new accountholderes were financially vulnerable; 2) 68% of new accountholders had never had a…