Commonwealth and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) announced the next phase of their collaboration to address “the challenges and opportunities that emerging technologies present for advancing the financial lives of US workers earning low and moderate incomes, who are disproportionately Black, Latinx, and women-led households.”
This project will “advance the strategic vision for, and shape the ongoing public conversation about, the impact of emerging technologies in the financial services industry.”
This marks the second phase of this project, “which builds upon two years of research around usage patterns of emerging technologies for people who are living with financial insecurity.”
This phase will “focus on deepening the understanding of financial service provider landscape priorities and trends, engaging in additional consumer research around emerging technologies, and conducting a field test to expand findings and insights.”
Ultimately, the project will “advance the ongoing public conversation around, policy implications of, and strategic vision for these emerging technologies in the financial services industry.”
Commonwealth Co-Founder and Executive Director Timothy Flacke, said:
“Practically, we hope to give financial technology developers and providers a much deeper understanding of users earning low and moderate incomes, and create hands-on experience to shape emerging tech based on this deeper understanding. From there, we can contribute to a robust, ongoing public conversation about who should benefit – and how – from tech and fintech innovation.”
Creating effective and beneficial solutions in emerging technology for people earning low and moderate incomes “requires successfully aligning the wants and needs of three groups: financial service product developers and providers, technological innovators, and consumers themselves.”
By meeting the needs of these three groups through technology, “there is great potential for positive social change alongside business growth.”
Sarah Willis Ertur, Head of Financial Health at JPMorgan Chase, said:
“We know that technology has tremendous potential to help individuals and communities build their resilience and long-term financial health. We’re eager to work with Commonwealth to translate insights into action that ensures emerging technology actually fills the needs of historically underserved communities.”
This initiative builds on Commonwealth’s prior work with JPMorgan Chase, “Emerging Tech for All,” which focused “on artificial intelligence technologies and conversational AI in banking – and uncovering the increased use of and trust in chatbots for those earning low and moderate incomes during the pandemic.”
With this foundational understanding, Commonwealth pursued field testing “to learn more about consumer awareness, engagement and security, focusing on conversational AI assistance with financial hardship.”
