Americans Want Help Building Financial Resilience

A key part of financial resiliency for Americans is looking ahead. With modern financial tools and offerings, our industry is poised to shape and secure the financial future of Americans.

Why offer tools to help build resilience?

Across multiple Harmonic proprietary research studies last year, consumers consistently indicated that they wanted to become more financially resilient.

Consumers are also looking for answers. Few people really know all the tools, measures and products that are available to help become financially resilient. This makes an ideal place for us in the unique financial sector to shine. Offering easy, well-rounded financial resilience for consumers is key. 

And the good news for digital financial offerings is that consumers want to hear this from brands they already trust.  So, this gives the financial institutions they already have relationships with (you!) the permission to start talking resilience.   

What does resilience mean?

We know that financial resilience is the process of adapting to withstand and recover from temporary financial hardship and disruptions. For the consumer, building resilience isn’t just “getting through,” it’s a feeling. A big part of resilience for the consumer is knowing that they are prepared.

How can Americans build financial resilience?

Bouncing back from major financial shocks like illness, losses, or new responsibilities fuels the development of confidence and trust in our capabilities over time–seeding resilience. But resilience is also a long-term, ongoing, and sustainable habit that is nurtured by planning for overall financial strength. Now is the perfect time to help consumers kickstart and shape another compelling facet of their overall resilience.

How to build financial resilience.

There are many components to financial resilience. These top ten make the most meaningful impact to building resilience. 

1. Build an emergency savings. We encourage consumers to set aside at least three months of expenses in a liquid account such as a savings account or a money market mutual fund.
2. Ensure access to funds. We identify funds that can be tapped in the event of an emergency, such as low-interest home equity lines of credit (or other low-cost sources of funds). We find that most consumers aren’t even aware of these funds!
3. Know your social or community support. We encourage consumers to identify five close friends or family members that could help in an emergency or crisis.
4. Review your insurance coverage. We help consumers understand their policies, so that they have an appropriate amount of coverage for their lifestyle–and likely multiple policies.
5. Budgeting and spend vs. make. At the end of the day, banking smart isn’t about spending more, but about spending right. With tools like those offered in our industry, consumers are on the cutting-edge of digital budgeting and monitoring.
6. Monitor your debt-to-income ratio. We ensure that its easy for consumers to monitor their debt-to-income ratio (recommended to remain at less than 15%).
7. Regular payments. It’s important for bills to be paid in full and on time.
8. Regulate financial stress. Like you, we want to help people build good stress management when it comes to financial stress.
9. Plan their financial future. We believe in encouraging consumers to set defined financial goals and help them track their steps toward them.
10. Become a financial literacy buff. It’s not about hiding details in the footnotes. We all want consumers to feel confident in their knowledge and understand the value of different financial products so they can build a financial wellness plan that fits their lifestyle and future.

What can we do to help build resilience?

All Harmonic Insurance-as-a-Service programs, offers and tools are in alignment with these financial pillars. It’s not just about checking the account ledger, it’s about a user-friendly interface and helpful tools to make building financial resilience (somewhat!) fun. (Dare we say delightful?!)

More than ever, Americans are thinking about financial resilience. And, they want and need help building it.  

If you, the next gen of fintechs, are already serving SOME of their financial needs, you now should be talking about their RESILIENCE needs. Your customers want you to take them there.  And Harmonic is here to make that easy, compliant and profitable.

Our Insurance-as-a-Service offers embed directly into the user experience your consumers use every day, helping correspond to their real-life needs and helping you build a well-rounded offering–and open a new source of revenue.

Our products are from leading national carriers, approved by all regulatory concerns, affordable, clear, and customizable for consumer’s lifestyles. We know that your adventurous, always-traveling neighbor’s coverage won’t be the same as Dad’s in the corner cul-de-sac house with five kids and a dog. We are here to help you help them all.