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


Pricing

  1. Houston, We Have a Solution

    Liftoff

    Only a few people ever achieve liftoff of the astronautical kind, and one of them spoke last week to the group that is turning the Filene Research Institute i3 innovation LIFT into reality.

    LIFT is being tested as a way to improve repayment behavior and financial capacity. Guest speaker and astronaut Janet Kavandi, Director of Flight Crew Operations at the Johnson Space Center, spoke to Filene and five partner credit unions during the launch of this idea that provides incentives for timely loan payments. The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Financial Security will study automobile loans to 1,200 LMI consumers with subprime credit scores, with the results to be published in 2013.

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    categories » Collaboration, Innovation, Lending, Pricing, Technology

  2. Optimizing Consumer Choice

    Deep_blue_sea

    NEWS FLASH: Consumers are not rational. They will not always choose credit union services, even if they should. Neither will they search out good information, evaluate their options and then select the best choice. So should we throw up our hands? No. Dartmouth’s Punam Keller explains.

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    categories » Management, Pricing, Strategy

  3. Interchange Regulation: Implications for Credit Unions

    Levitin_pub

    When Jane Doe swipes her debit card for groceries, gas, or a book at the airport, little does she know that her behavior supports a whole ecosystem. The merchant certainly gets paid, but only after coughing up an interchange fee. But a provision in 2010’s financial reform legislation is sending a tremor through that ecosystem, directly affecting debit card issuers like credit unions

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    categories » Policy, Pricing