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Innovative Financial Tools for Serving the Underbanked – Federal Reserve Bank of PhiladelphiaProgreso Financiero empowers underbanked to move up the financial services ladder  October 16, 2007
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Center for Financial Services Innovation cosponsored "Innovative Financial Tools for Serving the Underbanked," a day-long conference on new products and services for underbanked consumers. An audience including financial services executives and representatives from non-profit organizations and state and local governments considered topics such as prepaid cards, the use of alternative data, and short term credit. The conference was held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on October 16, 2007. Innovation in consumer credit: Alternatives to payday lendingProgreso Financiero's CEO, James Gutierrez remarked how there were 30 million Hispanic adults in the US in 2007, representing 15 percent of the adult population, according to the Pew Hispanic Profile. Of those, two-thirds – some 21 million Hispanics -- are underbanked, most of which have either a thin credit file or none at all. This lack of a substantial credit record, along with the difficulty of finding traditional financial institutions in their communities, means that millions of Hispanics in the US have few choices when it comes to making use of mainstream financial services, like credit. ModeratorJennifer Tescher, Center for Financial Services Innovation Panelists
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