Amex Launches Savings Research, Sharing Findings with CFPB (Dec. 15, 2014)
American Express has launched a research pilot to study what marketing tactics and behavioral triggers can convince cardholders to save using its Serve prepaid account software platform. The CFPB plans to evaluate the results as part of its Project Catalyst, an initiative encouraging innovation making financial products more consumer-friendly.
Serve, which earned a Paybefore Consumer Champion award this year, already has a feature called Reserve, which enables customers to set aside money for financial goals. Customers who use Reserve—or American Express BlueBird’s SetAside savings feature—place into those accounts more than 25 percent of the money they add to their primary accounts each month, and they’re transferring money into these accounts an average of three times a month, according to the payments network.
The research will focus on saving behavior among low- and moderate-income prepaid cardholders who do not have access to or use traditional savings accounts, or have difficulty developing regular saving habits. American Express will share its findings with the CFPB to inform the agency’s research; however, precautions are being taken to ensure individual consumers cannot be identified through the data, American Express said.
“From the start, our priority has been to provide consumers with easy access to money management tools,” said Neal Sample, president, enterprise growth, American Express. “Over the next several months, this research will help us better understand what triggers can drive measureable savings behavior—which is differentiated from most savings research, which is often based on self-reported behavior.”
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