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A community development service to close your community's financial education gap, while maintaining your CRA program
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was enacted by Congress in 1977 to encourage financial institutions, banks in particular, to help meet the credit needs of all communities they serve.
Under the regulations of the CRA, federal regulators grade banks (those with at least $250 million in assets) on three measures of compliance: lending, investment, and service.
As financial literacy continues to decrease with the millennial population(1), financial institutions are seeking new solutions to bridge the financial literacy gap, while also improving the local communities they serve.
Pocketnest, the digital and free comprehensive financial planning app, was created with CRA in mind. It is a community development service that equally serves financial institutions and their consumers. Pocketnest provides users with free, approachable and user-friendly guidance to create and stick to a financial plan; meanwhile, the app serves as a scalable financial literacy program that institutions can white label and offer local communities as community development.
We believe that Pocketnest helps financial institutions meet the CRA considerations of being “an organization that provides financial services education programs to low-and moderate income individuals,” while closing the financial literacy gap.
The following research was compiled by graduate students at the University of Michigan, through the First Customer Program (FCP) and funded by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). They completed a four-month study of the CRA code, it’s application, and interviewed key stakeholders including bankers and CRA experts to compile this paper.
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(1) PriceWaterhouseCoopers Survey, Millennials & Financial Literacy, The Struggle with Personal Finance, 2014
NOTE: Pocketnest is registered with and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Internet Adviser exemption. We are noticed filed in Michigan and can assist residents in other states where we are exempt from notice filing. It is important to understand that nothing in this paper should be considered personalized investment, financial, tax or legal advice.