Filene Research Institute

Through independent research and innovation, the Filene Research Institute explores issues vital to the future of credit unions and consumer finance.

George Hofheimer's Posts

  1. Fellow Weighs in on Credit Cards

    Consumerism-webjpg

    Filene Fellow Bob Manning is a go to guy for the media on consumer credit issues.

    More ...

    categories » Economic Issues - Credit Unions, Filene News, Marketing, Consumer Behavior and Market Research

  2. What is the sound of a window closing?

    Closing_window

    SInce the financial crisis commenced in September 2008, I’ve kept track of the number times credit union’ers have said, “We need to take advantage of this crisis and grow our business.“

    More ...

  3. Road Trip

    Winterroad

    When your boss suggests you take a one week trip through the upper Midwest in February, there are three thoughts that run through your brain

    More ...

    categories » Filene News, Research in Motion

  4. Do

    Do_web

    In a famous academic study researchers set up two displays of jams in a grocery store. One display had 24 varieties of jam and the other display had only 6 varieties of jam. During the study, the academics (presumably in white lab coats behind a one way mirror with clipboards) observed how many consumers stopped to sample the jams and how many consumers actually bought the jam at each display. The results…

    More ...

  5. C’est trés cool

    Alphonse-desjardins

    In addtion to Andrea’s previous posts about the Montreal meeting (here and there ) our friends at Desjardins shared an interesting correspondence between Mr. Edward Filene and Mr. Alphonse Desjardins (pictured above) which occured almost 100 years to the day of meeting.

    More ...

  6. Team Filene

    Tools_web

    At Filene we often hear from our members, “Your research/ideas are great, but how can I apply them to my organization?” as a result we have decided to embark on a plan to help credit unions go beyond the research. By the end of 2009, Filene is looking to hire a limited number of talented advisors for the sole purpose of applying research and innovation ideas within credit unions. These 18 month projects include:

    • Young Adult Advisory Services
    • Credit Union Collaboration Advisory Services
    • Innovation Application Services

    Interested individuals should submit a formal proposal (outlined in RFP) to research@filene.org by September 29, 2009.

    More ...

    categories » Collaboration, CU Tomorrow, Filene News, Innovation, Research in Motion

  7. Did you hear the one about the credit union and overdraft fees?

    Piggy_bank_web

    Seriously…did you? Last week’s USA Today got as close as you can get to ranting about credit unions. While you can argue the merits, fairness and balance of the article’s treatment, the credit union system suffered some bad PR. I came away with one positive message for credit unions.

    More ...

    categories » Collaboration, Philosophy and Values

  8. Foreclosure Idea … Approved

    Gears

    Earlier this year, we teamed with the Michigan Credit Union League to explore a critical issue facing all consumer finance organizations: home foreclosures. The results of this work were two reports: one which outlined ten policy recommendations to decrease the number of foreclosures and another which focused on the concept of shared-equity loan modifications.

    More ...

    categories » Economic Issues - Credit Unions, Economic Issues - Policy, Research in Motion

  9. Regulatory Debate Afoot

    Ustres

    We recently released a paper examining the single financial services regulator question . This paper summarized existing research and viewpoints on a hot button issue for the credit union system. On June 17 the U.S. Treasury Department will unveil their regulatory plan which is receiving conflicting reports about the direction this plan will take. There seem to be two distinct possibilities: modest re-organization or massive consolidation of banking regulatory bodies.

    More ...

    categories » Regulation and Deposit Insurance, Research in Motion

  10. Behavioral Finance and Whack-A-Mole

    Befi_web

    Last week, I had the distinct good fortune to attend a gathering of behavioral economists where the call was loud and clear for rethinking financial regulation.

    More ...

Blog Categories