People’s financial lives are more deeply interconnected than traditional financial products suggest: income impacts expenses; expenses impact savings; savings impacts borrowing; borrowing impacts expenses; and uncertainty impacts everything. Products that fail to acknowledge these interdependencies optimize one financial function at the expense of the whole. What might be possible if we combined multiple financial functions—specifically saving and borrowing—into one financial product?

This paper makes the case for integrated products, details existing examples of the concept, and describes future product ideas that highlight additional ways to integrate savings and credit for the benefit of consumers. The goal of this paper is to inform and inspire innovators, and to invite partners to work with Commonwealth to advance these ideas.