SaverLife
SaverLife is a nonprofit financial technology company that works to create prosperity for low-income families. The organization's SaverLife platform provides cash prizes, rewards, articles from financial experts, gamified savings activities, and support to incentivize members to build a savings habit.{{cite web |last1=Burbank |first1=Kyle |title=Money at 30: SaverLife Review |url=https://dyernews.com/saverlife-review/ |website=Dyer News Financial News |date=10 June 2020 |publisher=Dyer News |access-date=24 March 2021}}
History
=Origins=
SaverLife was originally founded as Earned Assets Resource Network, or EARN, in 2001 by a group including financier F. Warren Hellman,{{cite web |last1=Peter |first1=Lattman |title=Warren Hellman, 77, Investor Who Loved Bluegrass, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/business/warren-hellman-dies-at-77-ex-lehman-president-and-music-festival-founder.html |work=New York Times |date=19 December 2011 |access-date=24 March 2021}} California State Senator Mark Leno,{{cite news |last1=Myers |first1=John |title=Even rivals say Mark Leno is one of Sacramento's most accomplished lawmakers. Now, his time is up |url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-mark-leno-legislature-legacy-20160829-snap-htmlstory.html |newspaper=LA Times |date=29 August 2016 |publisher=California Times |access-date=24 March 2021}} former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Bob Friedman,{{cite web |title=Robert Friedman |url=https://www.strongfinancialfuture.org/experts/bob-friedman/ |website=Strong Financial Future |publisher=Prosperity Noew |access-date=24 March 2021}} San Francisco County Supervisor Roberta Achtenberg,{{cite web |title=Roberta Achtenberg |url=https://www.usccr.gov/about/bio/Achtenberg.php |website=US Commission on Civil Rights |access-date=24 March 2021}} San Francisco Foundation CEO Saundra Hernandez,{{cite web |title=Sandra R. Hernández, MD |url=https://www.chcf.org/person/sandra-r-hernandez/#:~:text=%40srhernandezmd-,Sandra%20R.,and%20County%20of%20San%20Francisco. |website=chcf.org |publisher=California Health Care Foundation |access-date=24 March 2021}} and founding CEO, Ben Mangan.{{cite web |last1=Wilensky |first1=Amy |title=The Importance of Earning Interest: Ben Mangan '92 |url=https://vq.vassar.edu/issues/2009/03/features/earning-interest.html |website=Vassar.edu |publisher=Vassar |access-date=24 March 2021}}
The nonprofit created an Individual Development Account program{{cite web |title=Individual Wealth Building |url=https://community-wealth.org/strategies/panel/individuals/index.html |website=Community-Wealth.org |publisher=Democracy Collaborative |access-date=24 March 2021}} and one of the country's first children's savings programs, Triple Boost.{{cite web |title=ConsumerWatch: 'Triple Boost' Helps Low-Income Families Save For Education |url=https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/10/12/consumerwatch-triple-boost-helps-low-income-families-save-for-education/ |website=San Francisco CBS Local |date=12 October 2012 |publisher=CBS |access-date=24 March 2021}}
=2015–present=
Leigh Phillips became SaverLife's President & CEO in 2015.{{cite web |last1=Filippenko |first1=Zoe |title=Lessons from Leigh Phillips on Asset-Building and Short-Term Savings |url=https://www.lendup.com/blog/lessons-from-earn.html |website=Lend Up |publisher=LendUp |access-date=24 March 2021}}{{cite web |title=Episode 58: Leigh Phillips |url=https://sheventures.centsai.com/podcast/episode-58-leigh-phillips/ |website=She Ventures |access-date=24 March 2021}} In 2017, EARN launched SaverLife, a free online platform designed to help people change their savings habits and build financial security. The platform provides financial incentives, insights, financial coaching, and prizes, to encourage members to save.
EARN changed its name to SaverLife in 2019, uniting its nonprofit services under the SaverLife banner.{{cite web |title=SaverLife offers proven model for national savings crisis |url=https://patch.com/california/san-francisco/saverlife-offers-proven-model-national-savings-crisis |website=Patch |date=30 October 2019 |publisher=Patch Media |access-date=24 March 2021}}
SaverLife responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by transforming their online savings platform into a direct cash disbursement tool.{{cite web |last1=Kauflin |first1=Jeff |title=Fintech Apps Offer Financial First Aid For Hardest-Hit Consumers |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2020/04/03/fintech-apps-offer-first-aid-for-hardest-hit-consumers/?sh=6daf79a1a936 |work=Forbes |access-date=24 March 2021}} By October 2020, the company had given $2.7 million in direct cash payments to its members and small businesses across America. SaverLife also published research{{cite web |last1=Asymkos |first1=Stephanie |title=Coronavirus stimulus checks: Here's how people are spending their relief money |url=https://www.cashay.com/coronavirus-stimulus-checks-how-people-are-spending-their-relief-money-194356753.html |website=Cashay |access-date=24 March 2021}} on how people used these stimulus checks{{cite web |last1=Keshner |first1=Andrew |title=This is how fast Americans are spending their stimulus checks – and here's a breakdown of what they're buying |url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-how-fast-americans-are-spending-their-stimulus-checks-and-heres-a-breakdown-of-what-theyre-buying-2020-05-15 |website=MarketWatch |date=19 May 2020 |access-date=24 March 2021}} and tracked people's financial wellness during the pandemic.{{cite web |last1=Baker |first1=Scott R. |title=How Does Household Spending Respond to an Epidemic? Consumption During the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3565521 |website=SSRN |publisher=Elsevier |ssrn=3565521 |access-date=24 March 2021}} SaverLife research was used in research papers published by the National Bureau of Economic Research,{{cite web |last1=Meyer |first1=Steffen |title=Income, Liquidity, and the Consumption Response to the 2020 Economic Stimulus Payments |url=https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w27097/revisions/w27097.rev0.pdf |website=nber.org |publisher=National Bureau Economic Research |access-date=24 March 2021}} the University of Chicago,{{cite web |last1=Baker |first1=Scott R. |title=How Does Household Spending Respond to an Epidemic? Consumption During the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic |url=https://bfi.uchicago.edu/working-paper/how-does-household-spending-respond-to-an-epidemic-consumption-during-the-2020-covid-19-pandemic/ |website=bfi.uchicago.edu |publisher=Becker Friedman Institute |access-date=24 March 2021}} and Columbia University's business school.
In the summer of 2020, SaverLife was chosen by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a Voices for Economic Opportunity Grand Challenge grant recipient.{{cite web |title=Changing the National Conversation About Poverty and Economic Mobility |url=https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Ideas/Media-Center/Press-Releases/2020/06/Changing-the-National-Conversation-About-Poverty-and-Economic-Mobility |website=GatesFoundation.org |publisher=Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |access-date=29 March 2021}}
SaverLife has continued to publish research{{cite web |title=SaverLife Research: Insights into the Financial Lives of our Members |url=https://about.saverlife.org/research |website=saverlife.org |access-date=25 August 2021}} with various partners including The Brookings Institution,{{cite web |title=Low-to Moderate-Income Families are Losing ground: How to save their Homeownership Dreams |url=https://about.saverlife.org/research-posts/low-to-moderate-income-families-are-losing-ground-how-to-save-their-homeownership-dreams |website=saverlife.org |access-date=25 August 2021}} the FINRA Investor Education Foundation,{{cite web |title=Piloting SaverLife as a Tool for Workplace Financial Wellness |url=https://about.saverlife.org/research-posts/finra-foundation |website=saverlife.org |access-date=25 August 2021}} and the Financial Health Network.{{cite web |title=Financial Health Scores of Participants in the Red Tab Savers Program Shift Upward |url=https://about.saverlife.org/research-posts/financial-health-scores-of-participants-in-the-red-tab-savers-program-shift-upward |website=saverlife.org |access-date=25 August 2021}}
Products and services
The SaverLife platform provides incentives to encourage people to save money.{{cite web |title=Free service to help you learn how to start saving money |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/free-service-to-help-you-learn-how-to-start-saving-money/vi-BB1eT5mY |website=MSN |publisher=KNXV Arizona |access-date=29 March 2021}}
In 2019, SaverLife launched SaverLife Solutions,{{cite web |last1=Schiavo |first1=Amanda |title=SaverLife expands financial wellness benefit platform |url=https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/news/saverlife-expands-financial-wellness-benefit-platform |website=Employee Benefit Adviser |date=3 January 2020 |access-date=29 March 2021}} a custom integration of the SaverLife platform that employers, community-based organizations,{{cite web |last1=Carrns |first1=Anne |title=More Workers Get Help In Building Rainy Day Savings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/your-money/payroll-deduction-emergency-savings.html |work=The New York Times |date=6 November 2020 |access-date=29 March 2021}} and credit unions{{cite web |last1=Peck |first1=Brenton |title=Shifting from financial institution to financial health provider, in a crisis and beyond |url=https://www.cuinsight.com/shifting-from-financial-institution-to-financial-health-provider-in-a-crisis-and-beyond.html |website=CUInsight |date=5 May 2020 |access-date=29 March 2021}} could offer as a benefit to help their employees build emergency savings.{{cite web |last1=Tergesen |first1=Anne |title=Employers Help Workers Build Household-Emergency Funds |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/employers-help-workers-build-household-emergency-funds-11560418206 |website=wsj.com |date=13 June 2019 |publisher=Wall Street Journal |access-date=29 March 2021}} The program was launched with $1.5 million from Prudential Financial.{{cite web |last1=Rinker |first1=Brian |title=S.F. nonprofit lands $1.5M investment to help low-wage workers save money |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/12/12/sf-nonprofit-lands-1-5m-investment-to-help-low.html |website=bizjournal.com |publisher=San Francisco Business Times}} To date, SaverLife Solutions has partnered with Levi Strauss's Red Tab Foundation,{{cite web |title=The Red Tab Savers Program: a free, online savings tool for LS&Co. employees that rewards you for saving every month. |url=https://www.redtabfoundation.org/savers |website=redtabfoundation.org |publisher=Red Tab Foundation |access-date=29 March 2021}} the KFC Foundation,{{cite web |title=Programs |url=https://kfcfoundation.org/ourprograms/ |website=kfcfoundation.org |publisher=KFC Foundation |access-date=29 March 2021}} Alorica, Concentrix,{{cite web |last1=DiBetta |first1=Haleigh |title=Nonprofit coming to Johnstown aims to help residents save money |url=https://wjactv.com/news/local/nonprofit-coming-to-johnstown-aims-to-help-residents-save-money |website=wjactv.com |date=30 January 2020 |publisher=WJAC |access-date=29 March 2021}} and United Way of Houston{{cite web |last1=Correa |first1=Melissa |title=Free program will pay you to save money |url=https://www.khou.com/article/money/united-way-houston-is-offering-free-money-to-people-whove-lost-jobs-family-members-to-covid-19/285-fb052b5f-bf77-442c-958a-490d2e403071 |website=KHOU.com |date=25 January 2021 |publisher=KHOU |access-date=29 March 2021}} to provide a savings match to their employees.{{cite web |last1=Min |first1=Sarah |title=More big companies helping workers auto-save to build emergency funds |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/big-companies-are-helping-workers-sock-away-emergency-savings/ |website=CBSnews.com |date=19 June 2019 |publisher=CBS News |access-date=29 March 2021}}
The SaverLife Solutions platform has also been integrated into Intuit's Prosperity Hubs program{{cite web |title=Intuit Prosperity Hub Program Generates 2,200 Jobs and $123 Million Annual Economic Activity for Communities in Need |url=https://www.intuit.com/blog/social-responsibility/intuit-prosperity-hub-program-generates-2200-jobs-and-123-million-annual-economic-activity-for-communities-in-need/ |website=intuit.com |publisher=Intuit |access-date=29 March 2021}} and provided its savings platform to communities and employers in Bluefield, West Virginia{{cite web |last1=Zosh |first1=Melinda |title=Virginia woman wins $5k grand prize through non-profit's writing contest |url=https://wvva.com/2020/05/15/virginia-woman-wins-5k-grand-prize-through-non-profits-writing-contest/ |website=wvva.com |publisher=WVVA |access-date=29 March 2021}} and Johnstown, Pennsylvania.{{cite web |title=Johnstown contest winner presented with $5K check |url=https://wjactv.com/news/local/johnstown-contest-winner-presented-with-5k-check |website=wjactv.com |date=5 June 2020 |publisher=WJAC |access-date=29 March 2021}} In 2020, Intuit announced an expanded partnership that will bring SaverLife's platform to Prosperity Hubs across the United States.