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FiLab

formerly known as the lab* at Filene

Identify and implement proven solutions faster.
Fuel your organization’s growth.
Amplify your impact in the community. 
FiLab gets you answers to the questions that matter most.

FiLab Explained

FiLab is Filene’s ongoing platform for testing new tools, products, and strategic solutions for their potential to help credit unions grow and deepen their impact. Each year, Filene's lab works with a group of credit union sponsors and stakeholders to select and execute a set of “quick and nimble” tests identified through Filene’s research and market engagement. 

FiLab’s efficient and collaborative approach to testing yields actionable insights to support the adoption of proven solutions and expand credit unions’ capacity for innovation.

Filene's lab goes beyond idea generating and takes questions and new ideas emerging from Filene’s Centers of Excellence and communities and returns actionable insights and solutions for credit unions to put into action in real and tangible ways.

This type of work sets credit unions up for success, pairing resources (that none of us have time to build out individually) with actionable results that enable us to better serve our members.
Tonita Webb
Verity CU

Be Part of FiLab

Credit unions and system partners can still get involved in FiLab by becoming a sponsor. As a sponsor, you will:

  • Strengthen your credit union system's capacity for innovation and spark growth with cutting-edge research.
  • Join an exclusive cohort of forward-thinking credit unions and system organizations.
  • Participate in the selection of ideas to be tested from a set of vetted concepts.
  • Build relationships and learn from innovation experts, academics, and innovative-minded credit unions and system organizations.
Join FiLab

FiLab 2024 Test Results

Report

Year Two Lab Results: Subscription-Based Pricing Models 2.0
In its second year, FiLab introduced Subscription-Based Packaging 2.0 as one of seven solutions for the 2024 testing phase. In the following report we share highlights from a collaboration between credit unions and FiLab including comprehensive qualitative feedback from members about the desirability of subscription-based packaging models in financial services.
Report

Year Two Lab Results: Vertice AI
One of the seven solutions selected to test in 2024 was to explore the potential opportunities for credit unions to leverage AI technology to drive deeper engagement with indirect members. To tackle this issue that has been a chronic pain point for credit unions for decades, FiLab partnered with Vertice AI to test if their platform can offer more ways to deepen relationships with indirect members.
Report

Year Two Lab Results: Flow
Competition in the payments space continues to heat up. That's why FiLab partnered with Flow to test their platform on its ability to enable credit unions to communicate with the members when they are most engaged—at the point of sale with their card.
Report

Year Two Lab Results: Senso
FiLab partnered with Senso to test their AI-driven platform to understand the desirability, feasibility, and viability for credit unions to use GenAI to improve member interactions.
Report

Year Two Lab Results: Exagens
Exagens MoneySparxs fuses Behavioral Science, Neuroscience and AI to autonomously deliver at scale, individualized and actionable financial insights, tips, and advice, catalyzing financial wellness and credit union growth.
Report

Year Two Lab Results: Changed
FiLab partnered with Changed to provide credit unions with a debt repayment tool that members can use to consolidate debts, automate micro-savings, and pay off their debts faster, ultimately saving more money.
Report

Introducing LoanNFT, a Blockchain Solution for the Secondary Loan Market
*25-minute read— This report introduces LoanNFT, a blockchain-based prototype developed over the past year through a partnership with Dr. Lamont Black and FiLab. LoanNFT seeks to enhance the efficiency of the secondary loan market, creating a decentralized, shared database for loan transactions, eliminating the need for centralized intermediaries and reducing costs.
Blog Post

Lessons Learned Working with Fintech Partners in FiLab
Each year, FiLab seeks new ways for credit unions to grow their businesses and boost their impact. In our second year of testing, we partnered with six fintechs to explore their solutions. As we examined the challenges our credit union testers confronted, we gained valuable insights into how they successfully navigated those issues. Here are some key lessons and strategies credit unions can use as they work with fintech partners.

FiLab Sponsors

Webinar: Insights from Year Two at FiLab

Blog Post

Review webinar materials from "Insights from Year Two at FiLab," hosted January 21st, 2025.

Webinar: FiLab, Year 2 Tests Revealed

Blog Post

Review webinar materials from FiLab, Year 2 Tests Revealed hosted October 26, 2023.

Webinar: FiLab Fueling Credit Union Growth

Blog Post

Review the webinar materials from FiLab Fueling Credit Union Growth hosted on May 30, 2023.