Fannie Mae Foundation Chats About Underbanked Market

Series Showcases Acquisition Strategies, Real World Results

CHICAGO, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fannie Mae Foundation's KnowledgePlex launches a four part chat series from The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), Thursday, March 9, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. EST. "From the Margins to the Mainstream: Innovative Entryways for Underbanked Markets," is based on the recently released strategy guide from the National Community Investment Fund's Retail Financial Services Initiative (RFSI). The chats will feature speakers whose institutions executed a selection of acquisition approaches to determine what would be feasible and replicable in the broader financial services environment. March's chat will focus on the nexus of payments and cash access via such options as in-house check cashing, prepaid cards and second chance accounts. It will be moderated by Ellen Seidman, ShoreBank's Executive Vice President for National Policy and Program Development; speakers will include senior executives from Bethex Federal Credit Union, Legacy Bank, and Central Bank of Kansas City. April's chat will cover tax preparation services and alternative refund anticipation loans, May's session will discuss alternative payday loans, and in June, the series will conclude with the crucial role partnerships play in building effective programs for these consumers.

Said Jim Carr, Senior Vice President of Research for the Fannie Mae Foundation, one of the initiative's funders, "RFSI's guide, based on several years of extensive research, interviews, focus groups, and pilot initiatives, summarizes the most promising practices available to financial services providers targeting underserved markets. It offers the kind of practical perspective the industry needs to move forward in this area. Our chat series offers a unique opportunity to dig deeper into the case studies and the research, and enable attendees to better formulate their own strategies and products."

Jennifer Tescher, Director of CFSI, added, "The RFSI Initiative taught us powerful things about what acquisition strategies work, and what needs to be done to make such programs successful. Institutions and organizations interested in the underbanked market and its many subcategories -- such as the ethnic, urban, and youth segments -- all will find valuable information they can use in building their own initiatives."

Participation in the chat series, which is free but limited, involves both audio and online components. To learn more about the series and register, go to http://www.knowledgeplex.org/xchat.html. RFSI's strategy guide, "From the Margins to the Mainstream: A Guide to Building Products and Strategies for Underbanked Markets," is available at www.cfsinnovation.com/publications.php.

About CFSI:

The Center for Financial Services Innovation, an affiliate of ShoreBank Corporation capitalized by The Ford Foundation, facilitates financial services industry efforts to serve underbanked consumers across the economic, geographic and cultural spectrum. It provides funding and resources, enables partnerships, and identifies, develops and distributes authoritative information on how to respond to the needs of the underbanked profitably and responsibly. CFSI works with banks, credit unions, technology vendors, alternative service providers, consumer advocates and policy makers to forge pioneering relationships, products and strategies that will transform industry practice and the lives of underbanked consumers. For more on CFSI, go to www.cfsinnovation.com.

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Source: The Center for Financial Services Innovation