The eight winning fintech innovators of the Financial Solutions Lab’s (FinLab) Fourth Annual $3 Million Challenge hosted by the Center for Financial Services Innovation with founding partner JPMorgan Chase & Co. have been announced.
Employing diverse technology-based strategies like machine learning, automation, and underwriting, the winners were selected for the improvements they will bring to the financial health of underserved and under-represented people within the U.S.
Approximately 57% of U.S. consumers are financially unhealthy, according to CFSI research. This percent isn’t distributed evenly, according to research from the JPMorgan Chase Institute that found that women have about 20% lower income, liquid assets, and spending.
To fight this inequality, the Challenge encouraged diversity in the presented solutions, the founding teams and the customer focus.
Each winning solution receives $250,000 in capital, additional resources to scale, test, and enhance their product, and mentorship and guidance from JPMorgan Chase and CFSI. The winning ideas are:
- WinWin, from New York, NY, motivating young Americans with daily games that provide cash prizes.
- Sixup, from San Francisco, CA, giving low-income but high-achieving college students with digital wrap-around support and affordable gap loans to promote upward mobility.
- Resolve, from Oakland, CA, creating customized debt relief plans and connecting them to a network of debt relief partners to help the financially distressed back to financial health.
- Petal, from New York, NY, expanding credit access to new-to-credit consumers with cash flow underwriting for no-fee credit cards that don’t require credit scores.
- Mason Finance Inc., from San Francisco, CA, serves older Americans with an exclusive online financial services platform for those aged 65 and older, allowing them to sell life insurance before they lapse or surrender their policies.
- Goalsetter, from New York, NY, Allowing kids and families to redirect money from excess goods into future savings, as part of a goal-based savings and gifting platform.
- io, from Boston, MA, leveraging innovative technology, data-driven solutions, and partnerships that simplify student debt repayment, round up, and refinancing.
- Alice, from New York, NY, an employer-distributed benefit allowing employees to automate pre-tax spending on healthcare, childcare, commuting, and other such expenses.
“We continue to be amazed by the entrepreneurial spirit exhibited by Challenge winners and the impact they seek to make in the everyday lives of overlooked populations,” said CFSI CEO and founder, Jennifer Tescher. “This year’s Challenge winners leverage technology in profound ways – often informed by their own personal challenges and life experiences – to provide help for the 138 million people in America who struggle with their financial health.”
