Having a good financial credit score is a staple of American opportunity, but for many people it seems out of the realm of possibility.

While 77% of Americans living on low to moderate incomes (LMI) have heard of ways to check or improve their credit, only 14% have tried credit-building tools such as secured credit cards or credit builder loans. Another 26% have used monitoring tools such as Credit Karma and Credit Sesame; 20% say they don’t know how such services work and 19% say they can’t afford them.

Such are the findings of a new research study Commonwealth conducted in partnership with LOQBOX, a mission-driven fintech company committed to helping people build credit and long-term wealth.

In the first quarter of 2020, to investigate the link between credit and wealth building, and to learn more about how people view the connection, we conducted an online survey of 440 Americans living on LMI. The respondents were between the ages 20 and 40 with incomes of no more than $60,000. We interviewed 14 of them by phone to gather qualitative data to deepen our understanding.

Read our brief, Building Credit to Build Wealth, to learn more.