In the News
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota to be Part of USHFI Study on Saving
March 5, 2012
Impulse Saving May be the 'New' New Thing
February 16, 2012
Credit Union Journal: Anti-Poverty Group Funds CDCU Innovations
FEBRUARY 8, 2012
CUinsight.com: CDCUs “Critical” to Financial Service Strategy
FEBRUARY 7, 2012
The website CUinsight.com has published a press release from Ford Foundation describing the critical importance of credit unions, and highlighting its partnership with USHFI.
FEBRUARY 2, 2012
February 2, 2012
USHFI has announced its grantees for 2012. Find out more about our partners.
USHFI Academic Director Jonathan Zinman Profiled on LiveScience
september 29, 2011 LiveScience
Jonathan discusses his research agenda and his love of Zulu Nation hip-hop.
Webinar for Prospective Applicants to the Financial Products Innovation Fund
september 22, 2011
The US Household Finance Initiative (USHFI) is conducting a webinar to help potential applicants respond to its Request for Proposals for the Financial Products Innovation Fund.
A push for low-income earners to start saving
september 9, 2011 chicago tribune
Rebecca Rouse, our Project Coordinator, spoke to the Chicago Tribune about our commitment savings work with District Government Employees Federal Credit Union in Washington, DC.
Request for Proposals - Financial Products Innovation Fund [now closed]
august 2011
The US Household Finance Initiative (USHFI) is pleased to announce a Request for Proposals for financial institutions to collaborate with IPA as part of its Financial Products Innovation Fund.
New Product Boosts Low-Income Saving
JULy 28, 2011 FINANCIAL SECURTY PROJECT BLOG AT BOSTON COLLEGE
The product’s name, Super Saver CD, is a bit of a misnomer. It is a hybrid of a bank certificate of deposit and a traditional savings account.
US Household Finance Initiative launches new product development fund and working group
JUL, 2011 the ipa blog
The Financial Products Innovation Fund was created as a joint effort between IPA and the Ford Foundation to support research and development of new and innovative financial products targeting low- and medium-income households in the United States.
Using Behavioral Economics to Help Households Reduce Debt [Video]
Nov, 2010 financial literacy center
Jonathan Zinman talks at the Financial Literacy Research Consortium about the Borrow Less Tomorrow program.
What Can We Do to Help Consumers and Prevent the Next Financial Meltdown
may, 2011 rand corporation
Evidence from the intersection of psychology, economics, and other disciplines suggests many consumers do struggle with financial decisions (and other decisions involving trade-offs over time). But evidence on whether traditional approaches to protection make consumers better off -- or make markets work better -- is mixed at best.
Limited and Varying Consumer Attention: Evidence from Shocks to the Salience of Bank Overdraft Fees
APRIL, 2011 working paper
To alter consumer behavior, some companies reach out to academics
april 3, 2011 THE washington post
“[We] try to get a better understanding of what makes consumers tick,” said Dartmouth College professor Jonathan Zinman, a behavioral economist who serves as an adviser to HelloWallet. “And basically the model research-wise is to try to come up with innovations that provide a win-win for the consumer. . . and the service provider.”
Changing the Future of Financial Education in the US
march 8, 2011
Our partner the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley has been awarded a grant from the Center for Financial Services Innovation to test whether social commitments and text alerts can help consumers reduce debt. The program, Borrow Less Tomorrow, was designed jointly with IPA and our research affiliates Jonathan Zinman and Dean Karlan.
Jonathan Zinman appointed to Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council
jaNUARY 10, 2011 FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD
The Federal Reserve Board has named ten new members to its Consumer Advisory Council and designated a new Chair and Vice Chair of the Council for 2011. The Council advises the Board on the exercise of its responsibilities under the Consumer Credit Protection Act and on other matters in the area of consumer financial services. Jonathan Zinman, one of the ten new members, is an Associate Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, and Research Affiliate at Innovations for Poverty Action.
Research by Jonathan Zinman quoted in Reason magazine
NOVEMBER 8, 2010 REASON MAGAZINE
On Tuesday, Montana voted overwhelmingly to cap interest rates for payday loans at 36 percent annually. Similar caps passed in the last election cycle in Ohio and Arizona, limiting the amount companies can charge when making small loans to customers. The ballot results make Montana the 18th state to institute such caps.
Another view: The Agency Consumers Really Need
MARCH 30, 2010 THE NEW YORK TIMES
In this Op-Ed, IPA Research Affiliate Jonathan Zinman, writing with Victor Stango, draws on research findings to make suggestions for the role of the Consumer Protection Agency in the United States. Zinman praises, as an example, the promise of the Social Security Administration's research and development work on financial literacy. This work includes the launch of the Center for Financial Literacy at Boston College, of which IPA is an active partner.
Text Yourself and Save More Money
FEBruary 2010 kiplinger magazine
We worked with several banks in different countries to give some of their clients text-message reminders to make savings deposits.
A Jewish Mother in Your Cell Phone
November 9, 2009 slate
A study by four Ivy League economists—Dean Karlan of Yale, Sendhil Mullainathan and Margaret McConnell of Harvard, and Jonathan Zinman of Dartmouth—has shown that gentle text-based nagging can induce people to save more.
Funding Partners
CFSI is the nation’s leading authority on financial services for underbanked consumers. CFSI’s mission is to transform the U.S. financial services marketplace to help underbanked consumers achieve financial prosperity.
The Center for Retirement Research promotes research on retirement issues, transmits new findings to a broad audience, helps train new scholars, and expands access to valuable data resources.
The Ford Foundation supports visionary leaders and organizations on the frontlines of social change worldwide.
The FINRA Investor Education Foundation provides underserved Americans with the knowledge, skills and tools necessary for financial success throughout life.


