SpringFour BAI Podcast – Helping Consumers Win Through Financial Wellness

SpringFour’s CEO, Rochelle Nawroki Gorey, recently joined the BAI Banking Strategies Podcast to talk about bringing financial health resources to bank customers.

Financial health and wellness are crucial to consumers at a wide variety of income levels across the country. Millions of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and it’s not just the underserved and under banked that need referrals to quality resources available through SpringFour.

Financial institutions that make the financial wellness of their customers a priority show that they care about their customers and build loyalty. These financial wellness tools can assist customers in living a successful financial life and ultimately qualify for financial products they may not have been able to qualify for before.

Listen to the full podcast here to learn more about just how important addressing financial wellness is, and how SpringFour can help.

Connecting Real People With Real Savings

Connecting Real People With Real Savings

One of the best parts of our jobs here at SpringFour is hearing stories of the ways in which referrals are positively affecting people’s financial lives. It inspires us, and motivates us. Everyday our subscribers are providing thousands of referrals through SpringFour to their customers that directly impact their budgets and change their lives for good. We want to hear those stories.

Because of this we are always looking for ways to partner with our subscribers to look at outcomes from referrals, and evaluate impact. Whether through gathering in-depth personal stories, or data analysis of repayment performance, the impact SpringFour referrals make can be measured in a wide variety of ways.

We recently partnered with GreenPath Financial Wellness to follow-up with clients who received SpringFour referrals to see how their financial lives had been affected. Vincent, Diane, and Vivian* were three examples of just how these referrals make a difference. From making a home more livable through home repair grants, to getting a handle on out of control prescription costs, to gaining assistance for bankruptcy, SpringFour referrals helped to get financial lives back on track. Read their moving stories here.

Do you have an innovative way to think about the impact of SpringFour referrals? Are you a subscriber who is already tracking these outcomes, or would you like to? Reach out to us (Katie@springfour.cc); we’d love to hear from you.

*Names changes for confidentiality


Katie Gottschall Donohue

Vice President, Strategy and Operations
Connecting Real People With Real Savings

Why Employers Need to Take Part in Employee Financial Health

The gig economy, generational differences in the workplace, and changing family structures. These are the issues that workplaces are tackling as they seek to provide their employees with comprehensive and flexible benefits.

According to MetLife’s 15th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study, there are some key benefits and resources that employees want from their employers. Employees agree that they want more options when it comes to benefits, and more guidance when it comes to their finances.

The study notes that the percent of employees who believe that employers are responsible for their financial well being has risen in recent years to over 40%. Employees often turn to their employers to help them navigate and find solutions to financial stressors.

Employers should be listening.

When employees feel a greater sense of financial security, they are far more productive and loyal to their employer. Offering programs that help employees feel more financially stable is extremely attractive to potential employees as well.

23% of employees feel that they are less productive at work because of financial worries.

The study found that employees would more likely accept a job and stay loyal to their job if their employer offered financial planning benefits.

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Source: MetLife’s 15th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study

 

What can employers do encourage employee financial health?

Knowledge is a key driver of financial fitness. According to the study, employees who feel knowledgeable about their finances and options available to them are more financially secure.  Employers can and should provide resources that educate employees on their financial options.

This is not always easy for startups or small businesses lacking the resources to provide extensive benefits. However, the study notes that it is important for employers to ensure that they offer the benefits that employees want, even if the company doesn’t pay for them. For example, even if an employer does not offer monetary assistance with student debt, they can connect employees to external resources that help pay back or educate employees on student loans.

At SpringFour, we seek to help employers provide knowledge and guidance to their employees, in turn fostering employee loyalty, productivity, and, most importantly, financial health. Our platform helps companies connect their employees to the resources they need to stay current on their mortgage, pay off personal debts faster, obtain affordable health care, or just spend less every month.

Financially healthier employees, empowered with tools and products that build credit, savings, and overall confidence, miss less work and are more productive, a win-win for everyone.


Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey

Co-Founder & CEO

 

Podcast: The Importance of Consumer Financial Health in Banking

CEO and CoFounder Rochelle Gorey was recently featured on the BAI Banking Strategies Podcast, a weekly podcast focused on key issues facing financial services leaders in order to empower them to make smarter decisions.

Rochelle spoke to how financial institutions can benefit from making consumer consumer financial wellness a top priority.

Most Americans can’t afford an unexpected $400 expense and are living paycheck to paycheck. As increased awareness around financial health grows, more banks and financial institutions are looking for innovative ways to help their customers stay on top of payments and increase opportunities for savings.

Rochelle explains that connecting consumers to financial resources that allow them to save an extra $200 a month, for example, not only increases the rate at which they are able to make payments, but it strengthens the banking relationship.

If a consumer feels that their banking partner is taking a genuine interest in understanding their unique situation, and then assisting them in finding the resources to help, they are far more likely to trust and continue to bank with that institution. Additionally, as their financial situation improves they may be eligible to purchase better financial products.

Listen to the entire podcast to hear more about the importance of financial wellness in banking and visit our site to see how SpringFour is working with financial institutions to help their consumers access important cost-saving resources and improve payments.

Connecting Real People With Real Savings

SpringFour Showcases Real Life Savings

In the Fall of 2016, SpringFour was selected to join 1871’s WiSTEM cohort, a program designed to foster success and opportunities for women in technology through intensive mentorship and programming. As part of the cohort, our team went through the rigorous twelve-week program along with twelve other women-led tech companies, culminating in a final showcase.

The WiSTEM showcase was held in February, where each of the Fall 2016 WiSTEM cohort companies presented and their hard work was celebrated. The showcase allowed each of the companies the opportunity to communicate their mission to an enormous crowd of over 500 leaders in the tech community throughout Chicago. Additionally, the attendees included students from the Walt Disney Magnet School Computer Science Club and the Chicago-area members of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, inspiring the next generation of innovators and creators.

Photo Credit: Gregory Rothstein

WiSTEM cohort members with 1871 CEO, Howard Tullman.

SpringFour was able to showcase to this audience not only the platform’s capability to connect consumers to financial resources, but why consumer financial health is also great for business. CEO Rochelle Gorey shared real stories of consumers whose daily financial lives and health were transformed because they were allowed access to excellent resources. Connecting these consumers to the right resources significantly changes their financial outlook and in turn improves the rate at which they are able to pay back a loan or pay off their credit card debt.

SpringFour is uniquely beneficial for both consumers and businesses alike, and the opportunity to showcase the impact of our win-win model to an audience of leaders in the Chicago tech community was invaluable.

WiSTEM also provided the opportunity to work closely with, and learn from, the fellow women in our cohort. As we each continue to work on strengthening our businesses, even after the conclusion of the WiSTEM program, the cohort group will build upon these relationships. These fellow founders and CEOs have inspired us and proved to be invaluable sources of support and guidance as we continue to grow. We are extremely grateful to have been a part of this amazing group of entrepreneurs and to have the support of the community at 1871.