Session: Science for Social Change: Expanding Financial Access (Society for Social Work and Research 25th Annual Conference - Social Work Science for Social Change)

According to the Financial Capability and Asset Building for All Grand Challenge, financial access is a vital policy and practice direction for the social work profession (Sherraden, et al., 2015). Household financial access includes the ability to access transaction, credit, and investment products and services from formal financial institutions (The World Bank, 2017). Low- and moderate-income (LMI) populations often have limited financial access, starting with being unbanked or underbanked due to difficulties with fees and prices, conditions, marketing or self-exclusion (Apaam, et al., 2018). Those lacking financial access may also miss opportunities to have insured savings, save for retirement, use affordable and safe consumer financial credit. Having no or a limited relationship with a bank or credit union can also mean a lack of access to unbiased financial advice (Sherraden, Huang, Johnson & Bernacchi, 2019). The lack of full financial access is costly due to the need to substitute cash or more expensive Alternative Financial Services (AFS) for financial products and services. Thus, financial access is critical for households’ long-term financial well-being.

This symposium will provide empirical evidence about practice approaches to increase financial access and financial well-being with LMI populations. The first paper, Employer-Sponsored Small-Dollar Loans: Credit Lifeline or Quick Path to Debt? reports on three practice approaches to increase financial access to consumer credit and influence household well-being. The first is a pilot descriptive study of an employer-sponsored small dollar loan program. The other studies examine two other workplace small-dollar consumer credit products. Results suggest that employer-sponsored credit products offer an alternative to high-cost credit products. However, additional research to inform small loan regulations is needed to examine downstream ability to handle payments and effects on credit scores. The second study, Is Bank Staff Interaction Method Associated with Customer Saving Behavior in Banks? examines the possible relationship between bank staff interaction and consumer savings behavior with U.S. consumers with bank accounts. As the number of bank branches decreases to new lows in the U.S., one potential impact of fewer interactions with bank staff is altered consumer behavior. Using the 2017 Survey of Household Economics and Decision-Making, the authors study the association between bank account access method and saving behavior. Results suggest that bank account access method is differentially associated with saving behavior related to different types of savings goals. The use of the personal access method increases the likelihood of saving for periodic expenses, but is not associated with saving for emergencies. The third study, Savings Accounts and People with Disabilities: New Time Series Evidence, assesses the aggregate trends in savings account ownership before and after passage of the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act. The Act created special tax-advantaged savings accounts for people with disabilities (PWDs). An interrupted time-series analysis was conducted using cross-sectional data from the National Financial Capability Study (2012, 2015, and 2018). Results suggest prevalence rates for savings accounts among PWDs significantly increased following the ABLE Act of 2014, though the magnitude of this change was relatively small.