We wrapped up our fourth quarter with a major success metric: 5.5 million.

That is the number of financial health referrals that consumers across the US accessed in 2023 through SpringFour — and that number is 25% more than the previous year. 

Here’s what this means: Financial health cannot merely be a buzzword or a branding strategy. Done properly, it can help people pay their bills, put food on the table, and keep the lights on — and helping people achieve that needs to be a priority for financial institutions, employers, nonprofits, and more that want to meet their customers’ financial health needs while strengthening their business.

In Q4, we predicted that financial education alone is out — and that financial resources that deliver real-time support are in, and with more organizations turning to SpringFour, we are already seeing our prediction come true.

That is why we launched an all-in-one financial health product called S4connect with expanded reporting and analytical capabilities, which is seeing demand from existing and new partners alike.

Please read our Q4 Impact Report to see Americans’ increased needs and how we are meeting them; media spotlights on our impactful work with top organizations, including BMO, Self, and OppFi; and more.

Thank you, as always, for your partnership,

Rochelle Nawrocki-Gorey

CEO & Founder, SpringFour

In 2023, SpringFour was instrumental in making financial health a mainstay across industries. Our financial wellness solutions empowered institutions to drive empathy-first strategies, which led to improved repayment rates, increased bottom lines, enhanced brand trust, and empowered customers across the country who now have access to resources that support their financial health.

Thanks to this work — which is almost two decades in the making — we partnered with many more institutions, delivered our resources to more people than ever before, and received incredible awards, thought leadership opportunities, and media coverage throughout 2023.

We are proud of these accomplishments, and we know that without our partners, none of this would be possible. Please find our top 2023 highlights below.

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1. Delivered more than 5 million money-saving financial health referrals to consumers in 2023.

2. Forged and expanded partnerships with a range of organizations including leading banks, lenders, servicers, credit unions, employers, nonprofits, and more.

3. Added 2,000 new nonprofit and government resources to address rising demand for rental, student loans, healthcare, and many other financial needs, bringing our total number of resources available to 23,500.

4. Launched a brand new product with expanded reporting and analytical capabilities to demonstrate impact.

5. Recognized by Fast Company with the 2023 Brands that Matter Award in the Finance category alongside Morgan Stanley and Golden 1, which included the magazine feature: “Why you can bank on these 3 brands when it comes to financial health.” 

6. Drove the conversation around the importance of empathy-first strategies that support customers and drive repayment rates with the American Banker thought leadership piece by our Founder & CEO, “Banks should adopt an empathy-first attitude toward the struggling,” an interview on CX Leaders Podcast, “Easing the Burden,” as well as a feature alongside our partner, BMO: “‘The bottom line is empathy’: BMO and SpringFour are changing what it means to bank on consumers’ financial progress.”

7. Created impact that made a difference for consumers: 

• A customer reduced their monthly electric bill by half from $300 to $150.
• A customer received $800 of rental assistance in one month.
• A customer found a job after being out of work for 6 months.
• An elderly couple saves over $170 monthly with SpringFour resources.

8. Chosen as Finovate Innovator of the Year Award, winning out of a pool of impressive finalists.

9. Amplified our partnerships’ successes through press coverage and thought leadership in popular media outlets with clients including BMO, Fay Servicing, OppFi, Purchasing Power, and Self. 

10. Expanded resources to meet pressing needs and increased demand from student loan borrowers as student loan payments resumed in fall 2023.

11. Showcased Rochelle’s background and founder story, shedding light on the impact of SpringFour’s mission and innovation in Madam Ambition’s “Rochelle Gorey: A Story of Service and Innovation” and NYC Fintech Women’s Fintech Female Fridays series.

12. Garnered press recognition in Banking Dive, validating our mission and impact: “SpringFour helps banks link customers to financial aid.”

13. Responded to consumer needs and market trends, introducing a new category of support: transportation resources for cars and auto repairs, public transportation, rideshares, and more.  

14. Accepted an invitation for one of our team members to join the 2023 Financial Health Network’s Member Advisory Committee and to participate on a panel at FHN’s EMERGE Insights event focused on financial health, AI, ESG, bank regulation, and more with other industry leaders. 

15. Attended Capital One’s 2023 Supplier Diversity Summit and Purchasing Power’s National Partner Advisory Board meetings to highlight the companies’ partnerships with SpringFour and demonstrate impact to stakeholders. 

16. Received prominent mentions in client ESG reports, including BMO’s 2022 Sustainability Report and M&T Bank’s 2022 ESG & Sustainability Report, demonstrating SpringFour’s ability to create joint social impact.

17. Recognized with Fintech Futures’ Annual Banking Tech Awards in the Women in Technology: Software & Services Provider category.  

18. Worked with 1871 and BMO as part of SpringFour’s ongoing participation as an alumna of their WMNfintech program: This year’s engagements included sharing SpringFour’s story onstage in the WMNfintech lounge at Fintech Meetup in Las Vegas, attending an alumni roundtable and this year’s participants’ pitch competition, as well as receiving a press mention in American Banker.

19. Joined forces with Self CEO Julie Szudarek to highlight how women CEOs are creating successful businesses that also help people in Fintech is Femme’s “Fintech CEOs Team Up to Improve Financial Well-Being: Two is Better than One.”

20. Served as an industry leader and seized opportunities to mentor others in the field as a judge for Northwestern University’s Global Engagement Summit. 

21. Supported customers through seasonal and circumstantial changes like paying taxes, the resuming of student loan payments, recovering from natural disasters, unexpected home or auto repairs, changes in Medicaid and healthcare availability, and more.

22. Kept a pulse on consumer and market trends in order to inform our clients and provide strategic solutions that meet customer needs and power their financial health.

23. Created impact for individuals, families, agents, institutions, and bottom lines. Here’s what our clients tell us:

Thank you, as always, for your support,

  Rochelle Nawrocki-Gorey

  CEO & Founder

As the new year approaches, the financial services industry is going beyond providing financial education and are showing up for their customers like never before. 

“Financial education alone is out,” says Rochelle Gorey, Founder and CEO of SpringFour. “People do not need more budgeting apps or reading material about saving techniques — but a combination of both education and tangible, actionable financial assistance resources can go a long way to making a real difference for consumers.”

A quick Google search for “budgeting tips” yields over 2.13 billion results. Looking for a budgeting app? The Apple App Store has hundreds of options to choose from. And yet research from the Financial Health Network shows that the financial health of Americans has dropped to pre-pandemic levels, with an increasing number of people moving toward financial vulnerability. Why, despite increasing access to financial tools and education, are Americans continuing to struggle financially? To put it simply, financial education alone is not enough. 

“Due to global and personal crises alike, individuals are increasingly living paycheck to paycheck and need resources that can help them in real-time and in clear, tangible ways,” Gorey continues. As pandemic-era financial programs become a thing of the past and inflation continues to impact the cost of living, nearly 40% of families in the US report having difficulty paying their bills and other expenses. Additionally, 40% of households say they would only be able to cover expenses for a month or less. Offering quick tips and financial education to these segments may provide a bandaid to help them reframe their financial situation, but what they really need is access to nonprofit and government resources that can truly make a difference in the areas of their lives that matter — food savings, rental assistance, employment services, affordable childcare, healthcare and prescriptions assistance, and more.

Gorey has a vision of the future in which financial institutions help their customers by providing access to financial health resources that can drive true change for consumers. She says, “In 2024, banks and financial institutions must become one-stop shops for their customers’ financial health, providing access to resources that can help them pay their bills and find their financial footing while destigmatizing the financial challenges that more and more people face.”

It’s not a new concept that financial institutions should be providing these kinds of services – 59% of retail bank customers said in 2022 that they expect their financial institutions to help them improve their financial health, and yet very few banks are delivering on that expectation. People want to know their banks care beyond what they’ve seen in the past.

“While in the past, organizations have shared their values by supporting causes through donations and social media statements, customers now want to see how banks’ values directly impact their daily lives. In 2024, customers will increasingly choose banks and financial institutions that adopt empathy-first strategies that increase customers’ financial health and lead to more money in their pockets,” concludes Gorey.

In 2024, the financial services industry is stepping up to the plate and providing consumers with real-world solutions to their very real financial struggles. We can’t wait to see it. 

Phylicia Clifton

Senior Client Success and Impact Manager

CHICAGO, December 14 – Today, SpringFour, a social impact financial wellness fintech company, announced that its partnership with leading credit building company Self Financial has delivered more than 3 million financial health referrals to consumers.

Since the partnership began in 2019, SpringFour has offered Self customers  —- many of whom live paycheck to paycheck  — access to its more than 23,000 trusted local government and nonprofit resources in 665 cities, towns, and metro areas across the United States through S4direct, SpringFour’s digital self-serve product. Recently named a Fast Company “Brand That Matters,” SpringFour enables companies to connect their customers with targeted financial health resources, ultimately increasing payment performance, enhancing brand trust, improving bottom lines, and powering consumers’ financial health and capability.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data, aggregate household debt balances increased by $228 billion in the third quarter of 2023, with $386 billion in newly originated mortgage debt and an increase of $30 billion in outstanding student loan debt. This challenging economic climate makes access to financial health resources increasingly important for American families. A SpringFour survey of low- and moderate-income families showed that, while 83% of households are interested in receiving resources from financial institutions, only 17% of respondents were aware of where to go to access such resources. 

“The economy is challenging right now, particularly for consumers who are also trying to build their credit. Our partnership with SpringFour enables us to provide resources in addition to credit building to more customers so they can be more financially resilient and reach their goals,” said Julie Szudarek, CEO of Self Financial. 

Over the past four years of the partnership, SpringFour and Self have delivered millions of referrals to Self customers in areas such as food savings, rental resources, heating and utility costs, healthcare savings, financial counseling, and more, helping consumers reduce household expenses and empowering them on their financial health journeys. SpringFour has helped Self meet its customers’ changing needs. In fact, in Q3 2023, Self customers’ demand for student loan counseling resources increased 10% compared to Q2 2023. With access to SpringFour’s robust database of resources, hundreds of thousands of customers have been connected to nonprofit and government resources to aid in the progress of their financial health journey. 

“We are proud to bring SpringFour’s resources to Self customers,” said SpringFour CEO Rochelle Gorey. “Especially in such a challenging economic climate, SpringFour and Self’s shared commitment to empathy-first financial health strategies is helping consumers build credit, increase their options, and power their financial capability. In order for people to improve their overall financial health, comprehensive strategies are needed and our partnership is core to that, helping people access existing resources to reduce their costs and mitigate hardships.”

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About SpringFour

SpringFour, the first-of-its-kind, leading social impact fintech, empowers banks, credit unions, fintech lenders, employers, mortgage servicers, nonprofits, and more to connect consumers with vetted, local nonprofit and government financial health resources — increasing payment performance, adding brand value, driving social impact, supporting financial health, and powering bottom lines. Trusted by Capital One, BMO, M&T Bank, OppFi, KeyBank, Avant, Enova, Oportun, Mission Lane, and more, SpringFour is a Certified B Corporation, WBE, and the only woman-led, social impact fintech creating opportunities for enterprise-wide innovation. SpringFour’s product suite includes an innovative contact center tool, digital self-service models, and API. SpringFour delivered 4.4 million financial health referrals to consumers in 2022 in categories including food assistance, rental resources, heat/utility savings, affordable childcare, employment resources, prescription savings, and more. SpringFour is an award-winning fintech, recently recognized with Fast Company’s 2023 Brands that Matter and Finovate’s 2023 Innovator of the Year. To learn how SpringFour can benefit your organization, visit www.springfour.com.

About Self Financial

Self Financial is a credit-building platform that works to increase economic inclusion and financial resilience through easy-to-use products that make building credit accessible. With no hard credit check to get started, Self’s signature Credit Builder Account and secured Self Visa® Credit Card issued by its partner banks are designed to enable people to build credit and savings simultaneously. The company also offers free rent reporting to the three major credit bureaus, and utility payment reporting to TransUnion. Download the Self app at the Apple App Store (250,000+ reviews and an average 4.9 rating) or Google Play or visit Self.inc for more information.

This quarter was unlike any other. SpringFour was recognized as the leader in financial health while delivering 1.25 million financial health referrals to individuals in this quarter alone. In addition to being named a Fast Company Brand that Matters, Finovate Innovator of the Year, and a Banking Tech Awards Finalist, a range of media amplified SpringFour’s timely and timeless empathy-driven work in prioritizing consumers’ financial health. 

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.”

Tearsheet’s article headlined with: ‘The bottom line is empathy’: BMO and SpringFour are changing what it means to bank on consumers’ financial progress.”

Banking Dive directly stated: “The social impact fintech points customers in need of financial assistance to nonprofit and government resources to help them get back on their feet.”

The Q3 Impact Report also covers resource enhancements including our new Transportation category and resource updates for student loan borrowers as payments resumed this quarter. 

Today, it is clearer than ever before — SpringFour is transforming institutions’ approach to their customers for good. Organizations that are committed to employing a customer-first strategy and elevating the customer experience know that prioritizing their customers’ financial health is essential. We are so proud to create impact with you.

Morgan Pierce

Impact and Communications Manager

On Be the Impact Day, we asked our team this: What does impact mean to you?

Our team’s answers highlight the importance and personal connection we have to our work at SpringFour. We are proud to work with our partners to drive win-win-wins. Big or small, we create moments of impact each and every day. 

To learn how you can drive impact with SpringFour, contact us at impact@springfour.com.

Morgan Pierce

Impact and Communications Manager