Why we keep win-win-winning: 6 awards in less than 12 months

Why we keep win-win-winning: 6 awards in less than 12 months

by | Jun, 26, 2024 | Blog

Why we keep win-win-winning: 6 awards in less than 12 months

Recently, we were thrilled to join so many inspiring financial health leaders at Financial Health Network’s EMERGE, the biggest finhealth event of the year! This year’s conference was a celebration of FHN’s 20th anniversary — and a reminder of the work still to be done to advance financial health. No one organization can do it all alone; strong partnerships are what make it all possible.  

Fortunately, we’re making big strides. In the past twelve months alone, SpringFour has won six awards for our revolutionary work  — and these have validated our mission to deliver the best-in-class financial health resources together with leading institutions.

What Impact Means to Us

There’s a reason SpringFour is getting recognized — we’re all about real-time, tangible impact. With SpringFour’s vetted resources, individuals reduce expenses, grow their savings, and find their financial footing.

 

For us, impact means centering empathy, and seeing business results follow. For our clients, that has included:

  • Over 5.5 million referrals to financial health resources to consumers last year
  • 17-31% increase in repayment rates
  • More than 5x ROI
  • Millions in annualized credit loss savings
  • Hearing directly from individuals about how SpringFour has helped them pay for food, save on utilities, find jobs, and more

Financial Health for the Win-Win-Win

When Founder and CEO Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey started SpringFour, “financial health” was not a term. Now, she’s been included as one of the Inc. Female Founders 250 “for demonstrating the importance of marrying social impact with fintech.”

About being included among American Banker’s 2024 Most Influential Women in Fintech, Rochelle said: 

“When we started SpringFour, no one really understood what we were trying to do. It took time, intention, and integrity. We built trust and a new way of helping people and companies. Today, some of the biggest banks are our clients. Financial health is now a term we all know.”

Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey

CEO & Founder, SpringFour

Plus, Fast Company wrote:

“In an industry that at times has not prioritized the financial health of consumers, SpringFour is taking a different approach to banking. The company has taken on banks as clients… ensuring a customer-focused approach as well as guaranteeing stability through partnership—SpringFour currently has a 90% client retention rate.”

Fast Company, 2023 Brands that Matter

We’re excited for the road ahead; there’s a lot more impact to be made. One thing is clear: SpringFour stands out.

Are you ready to stand out with us? Join other top financial institutions prioritizing financial health and seeing the results with SpringFour. Connect with us at impact@springfour.com or reply to this email to get started in under 30 days.

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Morgan Pierce

Impact & Communications Manager, SpringFour

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The Power of a Unique Partnership: Fifth Third brings SpringFour to underserved communities

The Power of a Unique Partnership: Fifth Third brings SpringFour to underserved communities

by | Jun, 25, 2024 | Blog

The Power of a Unique Partnership: Fifth Third brings SpringFour to underserved communities

Witnessing the magic of Fifth Third Bank’s Fifth Third Day, 5/3/2024, was special for so many reasons. 

I’ve spent the past few years honing my craft in Client Onboarding, preparing me to work with SpringFour’s clients today and lead many organizations through successful deployments of our products as Operations & Accounts Specialist. It can be stressful for teams to put their trust in someone else’s hands to execute their meaningful projects. I’ve carefully guided those I’ve been fortunate enough to work with to the finish line and cheered them on from afar once successfully deployed. It’s a bittersweet moment when they fly the nest after we’ve worked so hard together.

 

Seeing Fifth Third’s Financial Empowerment Mobile, commonly known as the eBus, in action near Fifth Third’s headquarters in Cincinnati was such a treat, and a moment in my career I’ll remember forever. It was amazing to see SpringFour’s resources being delivered to community members experiencing the tool in person and to know how many more people it will impact in their own communities as it embarks on a journey around the Midwest.  

As we sat to dinner the night before the big day, we all began sharing stories about our lives with one another. A table full of women trailblazing through the world of finance, fighting tooth and nail to make a difference in the world, is a really humbling and honorable place to be. I couldn’t help but take note of a theme amongst many, if not all, of us sitting at that table: we’ve all experienced financial hardship in one way or another at some point in our lives. 

While we all come from different backgrounds, we share similar experiences that ultimately lead us to where we are today. I think it’s beautiful that fate or happenstance brought us together to work towards providing SpringFour’s crucial financial health resources to communities that need it, some of the same communities we grew up in. I hope the communities the eBus serves know just how hard we are rooting for them!

Perhaps one of my favorite parts of the experience was meeting all of the incredible women at Fifth Third, including Aleta Young, Donna McCray, and Sandra DiPentima, who are responsible for the re-imagination of the eBus that will now deliver SpringFour’s financial health resources. Their mission never wavered. They poured their hearts and souls into this project. Seeing their vision come to fruition was incredible. 

SpringFour playing a role in the eBus’ upcoming journey across the country just made sense. Our Founder and CEO Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey has meticulously built a company rooted in serving others and operating with integrity. It shows in her actions, in the way she speaks about SpringFour, and in the partnerships SpringFour has formed.

I consider myself lucky to have played a part in this one. 

Allie Poppe

Operations & Account Specialist, SpringFour

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Partnerships, Empathy, and Financial Health Intersections at Financial Health Network’s 20th Annual EMERGE

Partnerships, Empathy, and Financial Health Intersections at Financial Health Network’s 20th Annual EMERGE

by | Jun, 17, 2024 | Blog

Partnerships, Empathy, and Financial Health Intersections at Financial Health Network’s 20th Annual EMERGE

Last week, some of the SpringFour team attended Financial Health Network’s 20th Annual EMERGE conference, hosted this year in our home city of Chicago!

“The Power of Partnerships:” A panel featuring SpringFour and its partners OppFi, Patelco, and Self

On the first day of the event, SpringFour’s CEO and Founder, Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey joined a panel alongside financial health leaders at SpringFour’s partner organizations including Rania Zakaria, Senior Analyst, Corporate Strategy at OppFi; Jennifer Mink, Director of Member Experience and Financial Wellbeing at Patelco Credit Union; and Julie Szudarek, CEO of Self. The panel was called “The Power of Partnerships.”

It was exciting to share the stage with some of our clients to discuss the power and strength of partnerships between innovative, like-minded organizations looking to support their consumers’ financial health with impactful business strategies.

No One Organization Can Do It All: Strategic Partnerships are Key

A common theme throughout the conference was recognizing that no one organization can, or should, do it alone when it comes to financial health. Working together through strategic, mission-aligned partnerships enables all of us to achieve more for our organizations and consumers. 

 Julie Szudarek, CEO of Self, touched on this when discussing Self’s partnership with SpringFour during the panel discussion:

“While Self can help customers with some aspects of their credit building journey, we can’t help with everything. To date, we’ve passed 3 million referrals to SpringFour’s resources through our marketplace. And it’s things that our customers need: food insecurity, information on utilities, information on apartments and how to get affordable rentals. It’s been a great way to round out Self’s products in other ways to get them what they need.”

Empathy is Essential to Success

During sessions and in conversations among attendees, there was a major focus on empathy as a key component of successful financial health strategies. EMERGE made it clear — incorporating empathy into every component of your organization results in positive outcomes. 

Jennifer Mink, Director of Member Experience and Financial Wellbeing from Patelco Credit Union, a SpringFour partner, expressed Patelco’s shared focus on empathy and how partnering with SpringFour helps them better understand their customers’ needs and support their financial health.

“SpringFour has been an amazing contribution to what we are all probably seeing in the financial industry, which is, people are struggling. The economy is struggling. People are struggling to pay their bills. And this is where our partnership with SpringFour has been so instrumental in how we serve our members. When we’re talking to our members about how we can support them during these ups and downs, we bring up SpringFour. And we get a lot of positive feedback about the resources.”

Pictured above: Erin Mendez, President & CEO of Patelco Credit Union, and Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey, CEO & Founder of SpringFour

The Real-Life Impact of a SpringFour Partnership

Jennifer also shared a member experience story where SpringFour helped connect a Patelco Credit Union member to much-needed resources that made a tangible difference in their life.

“We had a member recently who came into one of our branches and she had just lost her job, and she was looking to have fees reversed. As one of our reps was talking to her, we learned more that there was food insecurity, there was inability to pay utility bills, and she was also fighting discrimination at her work. All three of those resources we were able to get from SpringFour for her, and she was brought to tears in our branch. Amazing, amazing resource, and we’re implementing it wherever we can within our membership base.”

Intersectionality Across Barriers to Financial Health

The SpringFour team at EMERGE, pictured from left to right: Phylicia Clifton, Senior Manager, Client Success & Impact; Morgan Pierce, Communications & Impact Manager; Yasmine Anavi, EVP Business Development & Strategic Partnerships; Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey, CEO & Founder; Missy Hansen, Business Development Specialist

So many sessions throughout the 3-day experience discussed the many financial health challenges that consumers are faced with today — especially challenges that are often overlooked. 

We heard stories of people with disabilities, each of whom faces even greater financial challenges than the typical American due to laws and regulations that restrict access to financial means, including income level caps and the inability to build wealth. 

We learned how natural disasters can affect people’s ability to access basic needs like food, water, and shelter; especially for those in rural or underserved communities. 

At SpringFour, keeping a finger on the pulse of current needs and researching how we can better support consumers remains a top priority. EMERGE provided an opportunity for our team to learn about unique financial health intersections, expanding our perspectives to be more inclusive, informed, and understanding of the compounding challenges that impact a person’s ability to succeed financially. This event shed light on the innovative strategies our industry is adopting to address these challenges and make a real difference for consumers’ financial health.

What Makes a Successful Partnership

When asked what advice she would give to organizations that are interested in forming partnerships to advance financial health, SpringFour’s Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey said this:

“Build trust with your partners, and really make certain that you are delivering what you say you’re going to deliver. And communication. Keep in touch, be talking throughout the journey. Sometimes things can take a winding road to get to where you wanted to be at the beginning, and I think as long as you’re communicating, and sharing, and building that trust and rapport, you’re going to have a great partnership.”

Time Well Spent with Financial Health Leaders

Our team had such a wonderful time together, attending exciting sessions at the event, networking with so many leaders focused on and passionate about financial health, and so much more.

“We are so appreciative when our clients, our partners, will share the journey that they have taken with SpringFour,” said Gorey. “When they share why they chose to work with us and what it’s doing for their business and their clients, I think that’s good for our company, it’s good for the movement. Yes, this is a movement for financial health, and really for the industry that has brought us all here today. I started in this work almost 30 years ago and there was not a conference like this. We did not have the term ‘financial health.’ It’s so exciting and I think it can only grow and improve and have better outcomes if we’re all willing to talk about the partnerships and the way that we’ve changed people’s lives. Each of these companies plays a part in changing people’s lives, and that’s really what it’s about.”

Pictured above: Jennifer Tescher, Founder & CEO of Financial Health Network, and Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey, CEO & Founder of SpringFour

The SpringFour team at EMERGE, pictured from left to right: Yasmine Anavi, EVP Business Development & Strategic Partnerships; Missy Hansen, Business Development Specialist; Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey, CEO & Founder; Morgan Pierce, Communications & Impact Manager; Phylicia Clifton, Senior Manager, Client Success & Impact

Connect with Us

If we met you at EMERGE but haven’t yet connected virtually, please reach out to us on the Contact Us page of the website or by emailing impact@springfour.com.

Thank you to the Financial Health Network for hosting such a wonderful event. We can’t wait for next year!

Morgan Pierce

Impact and Communications Manager, SpringFour

Awards and Recognition

          

           

       

    

 

 

 

 

 

          

DRIVE IMPACT WITH US

info@springfour.com
866-732-2246

Chicago Office at 1871
222 Merchandise Mart Plaza

FOLLOW US

    

Research & Insights

Contact Us

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

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