Center for Global Policy Solutions’ Financial Inclusion Competition Winner WealthyLife Gets JPMorgan Chase Grant to Build Mobile Game to Increase Financial Capability
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) May 11, 2016 -- As the winner of the financial inclusion innovation competition at the 2016 Color of Wealth Summit, WealthyLife will receive a $10,000 planning grant from JPMorgan Chase to develop a mobile game that provides high-quality financial literacy training to students and families in underserved communities, the Center for Global Policy Solutions (CGPS) announced today.
WealthyLife will use the grant to turn their online game Credit Stacker into a mobile app, adding features, animation and levels to make it more interactive and engaging for players of all ages. The game teaches users how to manage various types of credit, interpret a credit report, achieve good credit and avoid risks associated with debt. WealthyLife plans to offer Credit Stacker for free in 28 cities as a partner of ConnectHome, a public-private collaboration to bring affordable broadband access, technical training, digital literacy programs and electronic devices to all Americans.
“As an entrepreneurial team of black women, we’ve experienced firsthand the challenges underrepresented communities face when it comes to financial inclusion and access to capital, so we’re thrilled and thankful to CGPS and JPMorgan Chase,” said Angel Rich, Founder and CEO, WealthyLife. “This grant will help us bring Credit Stacker to the people who need it as a mobile app, furthering our mission to provide equal access to financial literacy for everyone.”
“JPMorgan Chase is committed to identifying and advancing the most innovative approaches to increase savings, improve credit, reduce financial shocks and build assets among vulnerable families,” said Janis Bowdler, Head of Financial Capability Initiatives, JPMorgan Chase. “We are proud to partner with the Center for Global Policy Solutions to lift up entrepreneurs of color advancing promising, tech-enabled solutions. Credit Stacker will help people acquire the knowledge, skills and tools needed to increase their financial security. Congratulations to the WealthyLife team!”
Vulnerable populations remain excluded from the financial mainstream of the U.S. economy, in part due to a lack of products, services and policies that specifically address their needs. Despite encouraging signs of progress, there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure financial inclusion for all Americans—especially people of color, as well as low-income, rural and other at-risk populations who are disproportionately affected by wealth and income inequality.
WealthyLife was one of four teams of finalists who presented business leaders with ideas to bring vulnerable populations into the financial mainstream as part of the interactive financial inclusion innovation competition at the 2016 Color of Wealth Summit at the U.S. Capitol on April 21. Other finalists included:
• Working Solutions, a collaboration among The Pastors & Ministers Alliance, Veridian Credit Union and the African American Leadership Forum in Des Moines, Iowa which proposed to bring financial education and services to places of worship;
• PayActiv, a Silicon Valley based technology solution that partners with businesses to seamlessly allow their workers access to earned but unpaid income between paychecks, aligning earning with spending and protecting low- and middle-income employees from high fees for financial services like walk-in bill-pay services and payday loans; and
• Latino Economic Development Center, which proposed a bank branch on wheels to connect low-income communities in Baltimore City with affordable banking products and services.
“Congratulations to each of our financial inclusion innovation competition finalists and to our winner WealthyLife,” said Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, President and CEO, Center for Global Policy Solutions. “Their transformative ideas to increase financial inclusion will move us closer to ensuring every American has the opportunity to become economically secure.”
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The Center for Global Policy Solutions is a 501(c)(3) think tank and action organization that labors in pursuit of a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive world in which everyone has the opportunity to thrive in safe and sustainable environments.
Simona Combi, Center for Global Policy Solutions, http://globalpolicysolutions.org/, +1 202-735-0519, [email protected]
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