Stay Informed!

By Sean Luechtefeld on 07/02/2010 @ 11:34 AM

Tags: Innovation, Economic Inclusion, Matched Savings

Our colleague, Andrea Dimond of the Washington Access Fund, asked that we post the following to our blog to see what input members of our community have for developing new savings products for people with disabilities. The Washington Access Fund is doing some innovative work and we hope that putting all of our heads together will help propel the next generation of savings for persons with disabilities.

The Washington Access Fund provides Assistive Technology IDAs, Assistive Technology Microloans and Business Equipment Microloans for people with disabilities in Washington State. We are working on a new savings product to help encourage our clients to create emergency savings and plan ahead for future assistive technology needs and expenses. We currently automatically withdraw loan payments from our borrowers' bank accounts, and we automatically withdraw savings deposits from our IDA clients' bank accounts and then deposit them into their IDA savings accounts.

Almost none of our loan applicants have sufficient emergency savings when they come to us to apply for a loan. We thought we could help our non-IDA users save by withdrawing an amount above and beyond their loan payment which would then be deposited in a savings account. For example, if a loan payment is $50, we could withdraw $75 and then $25 would be deposited in that individual’s savings account every month by us. We believe this automated system would make it easier for clients to save regularly and accumulate money over time. The client could withdraw the money for emergency situations and then hopefully have a permanent emergency fund and a well established savings habit once the loan is paid back.

We are currently in talks with a large local credit union to house the accounts and offer the savings incentives for our clients. I specifically wanted to know of anyone offering a similar product and what incentives for savings were most effective. I am particularly interested in savings products outside of IDAs. We do have an IDA program and I think IDAs are great, but we are hoping to set this up as something that more of our clients might be able to take advantage of and as something to address the lack of emergency savings that our clients have.

Please let me know if you are aware of any research or other folks I might be able to learn from in setting up the parameters and infrastructure for this new product.

Washington Access Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). Our mission is to promote access to technology and economic opportunity for individuals with disabilities in Washington State.

If you have ideas for individuals, organizations or research that might be helpful to the Washington Access Fund, share them in the comments section below and email them to Andrea!

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