Innovating the future of short-term savings and financial security

Our Commitment

BlackRock’s ESI is a cross-sector program with a mission to help people living on low- to moderate-incomes gain access to and increase usage of proven savings strategies and tools—ultimately helping them establish an important safety net.

Our Commitment
Our Goal

Our Goal

ESI defines emergency savings as liquid savings that can be used in an emergency and is a building block to greater financial health. The Initiative’s goal is to demonstrate that emergency savings can be provided at scale through a number of different channels.

How It Works


Scale

Recruit cross-sector partners who seek to make a difference in savings.

Research

Develop and implement strategies based on the most recent research and experimentation.

Influence

Dialogue with thought leaders and policymakers to change through ideas that bridge theory and practice.

Industry Experts


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The Common Cents Lab (CCL) is a financial behavior research lab within the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University. CCL gathers and develops insights about what influences decisions to spend, save, borrow, and earn, and then leverages those insight to encourage behavior that aligns with people’s financial goals. In the last three years alone, CCL has partnered with over 50 organizations including Credit Unions, Banks, Tech Companies, Non-profits, local governments, and more, to re-design their product and services to measurably improve the financial health of more than half of a million people in the United States. Together we help their customers lead happier, healthier, and wealthier lives.

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Commonwealth strengthens the financial opportunity and security of financially vulnerable people by discovering ideas, piloting solutions, and driving innovations to scale. For nearly two decades, Commonwealth has designed effective innovations, products, and policies enabling over a half a million people to accumulate more than $1 billion in savings. Commonwealth understands broad changes requires market players to act. That’s why we collaborate with consumers, the financial services industry, employers, policy-makers and mission-driven organizations. The solutions we build are grounded in real life, based on our deep understanding of people who are financially vulnerable and how businesses can best serve them.

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The Financial Health Network is the leading authority on financial health. We are a trusted resource for business leaders, policymakers and innovators united in a mission to improve the financial health of their customers, employees and communities. Through research, advisory services, measurement tools, and opportunities for cross-sector collaboration, we advance awareness, understanding and proven best practices in support of improved financial health for all.

Partners

Our partners are testing innovative interventions and savings tools to help people build emergency savings that can put them on a path to financial security.