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Financial Solutions Lab Welcomes Five Fintech Innovators to Boost Workplace Financial Health as Part of Five-Year, $30 Million Initiative

JPM | January 15, 2019

Financial Solutions Lab Welcomes Five Fintech Innovators to Boost Workplace Financial Health as Part of Five-Year, $30 Million Initiative

Winners use technology to offer underserved workers targeted workplace financial wellness solutions

The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), along with founding partner JPMorgan Chase & Co., today announced the fifth cohort of Financial Solutions Lab winners, focused on improving financial health at the workplace for underserved workers. The five chosen fintech innovators will share insights on effective strategies for employers to promote the financial health of their workforce. Each company will receive $125,000 in capital, strategic guidance, mentorship from CFSI and JPMorgan Chase, and additional resources to test, enhance and scale their products.

“This year we were looking for solutions to improve financial health in the workplace,” said Jennifer Tescher, founder and CEO of CFSI. “Engaging with workers in the context of getting paid, buying health insurance and saving for retirement represents a powerful opportunity. For employers, helping improve the financial wellness of their workforce can increase productivity, improve retention and engender loyalty that ultimately accrues to the bottom line.”

According to the U.S. Financial Health Pulse, only 28 percent of Americans are financially healthy and nearly half of all U.S. workers report being financially stressed. Meanwhile, the JPMorgan Chase Institute found that people in the U.S. delay getting healthcare until they have cash, and specifically when they get their tax refunds. As financial stress is correlated with increased absences from work, decreased on-the-job morale, higher rates of turnover and negative consequences related to physical health, there is tremendous benefit in improving workplace financial services.

“At JPMorgan Chase, we’re committed to the well-being of our employees. This means we’re always looking at new and innovative ways to address wellness in the workplace, including financial health. That’s why the Financial Solutions Lab is so important and why we help support it,” said Robin Leopold, head of Human Resources for JPMorgan Chase. “Supporting and improving mental, physical and financial health is good for employees and good for business.”

Over the course of the program, the FinLab will augment and gather critical evidence of the role that financial health solutions play in the workplace and measure the impact and performance of services across diverse work environments. This will also raise awareness for workplace financial health programs and develop best practices for employers.

Meet the Cohort:

Brightside (San Francisco, CA) is a personalized financial health platform providing employees one place to go for all their financial needs.
HoneyBee (San Francisco, CA) helps employees, regardless of credit history, access an extra week’s pay anytime to help manage unplanned expenses and build credit.
Manifest (Chicago, IL) makes 401(k) transfers seamless as employees switch positions by standardizing the process and linking providers to dramatically reduce administrative costs, compliance liabilities, and time.
MedPut (New York, NY) is an employee benefit option that provides 0% financing and bill negotiation services for out-of-pocket medical bills, with no impact to an employee’s credit score.
Onward (Kansas City, MO) is an employer-based mobile savings and credit app that enables workers to save effortlessly, build financial knowledge, and access responsible credit when emergencies strike.

In addition to $125,000 in capital, each of the companies will receive:

Access to the CFSI Network and partnership opportunities that can help innovators increase product reach
One-on-one ongoing mentorship and expertise provided by CFSI and JPMorgan Chase executives and other industry leaders, from organizations including Ideas42, Frog, Hamburger Gibson, Paul Hastings, Promontory Financial and Washington University
Peer learning via in-person retreats throughout the year and regular virtual working sessions

FinLab’s First Four Years

To date, FinLab has supported more than 30 financial technology companies from more than 1,600 total applicants. Cohort alumni are offering innovative financial products that reach over 4 million Americans and have seen 20x user growth since joining the FinLab. Collectively, FinLab companies have raised over $500 million in capital since joining the program and have helped Americans save over $1 billion.

The four FinLab classes to date have included startups rethinking how to address such issues as expense tracking (Everlance), savings (nonprofit EARN; Digit), planning (Albert), debt restructuring (Lendstreet), payments management (EarnUp), student debt management (FutureFuel.io), youth financial security (Goalsetter; WinWin), income volatility assistance (Even; Dave.com), access to credit (Petal; Nova), protecting aging Americans against elder fraud (EverSafe) and SNAP benefits management (Propel).

To learn more about the history of the Challenge and its current and previous winners, visit http://finlab.cfsinnovation.com/workplace-challenge/.

JPMorgan Chase’s Strategy to Advance Financial Health

The Financial Solutions Lab is part of JPMorgan Chase’s strategy to advance the financial health of its customers, communities and employees.

The firm offers a number helpful tools and resources available online and on the Chase mobile app designed to give customers greater control of their money. It recently launched a new website – Chase.com/savingit - that offers tips, guides and personal stories on everyday money matters – from saving for a home to saving for the holidays, as well as a new Budget Builder tool provides customers the opportunity to create a budget in real-time. Customers can also set up repeat transfers on their terms from their checking into their savings account through a new Autosave feature, available on the mobile app.

JPMorgan Chase also has a range of programs to improve the financial health of employees, including online resources, events and incentivized financial planning learning modules.

This January, the firm celebrates National Savings Month, a month dedicated to education and action around financial health.

About the Financial Solutions Lab

The Financial Solutions Lab is a $30 million, five-year initiative managed by the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) with founding partner JPMorgan Chase & Co. to identify, test and expand the availability of promising innovations that help people in America increase savings, improve credit, and build assets. For more information, visit http://finlab.cfsinnovation.org/.

About the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI)

CFSI is the nation’s authority on consumer financial health. CFSI leads a network of financial services innovators committed to building a more robust financial services marketplace with higher quality products and services. Through its Compass Principles and a lineup of proprietary research, insights and events, CFSI informs, advises, and connects members of its network to seed the innovation that will transform the financial services landscape. For more on CFSI, go to cfsinnovation.com and follow on Twitter at @CFSInnovation.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.6 trillion and operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of customers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.