Celebrating 100’s of Financially Empowered Employees with over 1000 Employee Opportunity Loans
Crave Fishbar and Grand Street Settlement. These are just two of the companies in New York City we’ve supported over the last few years as they support the financial wellbeing of their employees. Through our Financial Empowerment Program, these social enterprises offer their employees access to both free financial counseling via our partner, Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, and our Employee Opportunity Loan. By offering their employees this financial employee benefit, they create healthier, more productive workplaces. And we are proud to announce, we’ve provided over 1000 loans to New York City and Westchester workers when they most needed it and helped them build or improve credit scores and accumulate savings.
Why is this a milestone worth celebrating? Because half of American employees are very concerned about their financial security, and two-thirds don’t have enough savings to cover three months of expenses. Financial security—or lack thereof– impacts productivity. According to a January 2019 report from the American Management Association, “Employers are starting to realize that it’s not just the physical health that impacts employees but their financial health as well. Employees who are financially sound and without significant money worries at home are happier and more focused on the job.”
Whether businesses prepare for it or not, financial stress shows up at work. We know our Financial Empowerment Program offers a solution to ease not only this stress but also empowers employees with greater financial capability. We don’t claim to solve all the financial concerns of employees, but we do know we’ve helped working New Yorkers bridge the occasional gap between unexpected expenses and available savings and help to alleviate financial stress.
“Every time an employee has an emergency, they can use the Employee Opportunity Loan instead of going to an exploitative online, payday lender or borrowing against retirement. Through our Financial Empowerment Program, we seek to improve long-term financial outcomes for employers and employees. We feel we are making a difference,” says Melanie Stern, Director of Consumer Lending.
Our data tell us we are making a difference. On average, people who secure our Employee Opportunity Loan and make timely payments have seen their credit scores increase 56 points or see a first-time score of as much as 700 points after one year. Healthy credit scores create access people need to build wealth. Employers can play a huge part in this! Our vision is for every New York City employer to adopt a Financial Empowerment Program as part of their employee benefits package.
“Ultimately, our goal is for every employer to understand that financial health and security creates healthier, more productive workplaces,” says Melanie.
How does it work? The Financial Empowerment Program serves as a tech-enabled comprehensive financial health tool for an employee with two connected opportunities:
- The Spring Bank Employee Opportunity Loan provides up to$2500 with no minimum credit score requirement and built-in savings and credit building features. Payments are directly deposited from payroll to a savings account, and borrowers can seamlessly continue to make deposits into savings after the loan has been paid. We accept ID NYC to make it accessible for most New Yorkers.
- The Trusted Advisor program from Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners gives employees access to free, unlimited, and personalized financial counseling via phone, Skype, or text. NTFP counselors help their clients create financial action plans and provide weekly check-ins to assess progress
We know that financial counseling, when supported by access to an affordable, small-dollar loan provides a comprehensive financial health benefit for employees. Via our fintech platform employees can take advantage of either or both offerings. And it’s zero cost, zero hassle for employers. Learn more about our Employee Opportunity Loan or how you can support your employees with our Financial Empowerment Program by contacting Melanie Stern at [email protected] or at (718) 879-5198.
