Madison, Wis. – The National Credit Union Foundation (the Foundation) today released a special brief entitled, “Health and Financial Well-Being: Two Good Things That Go Better Together” describing the need for financial service and health care professionals to collaborate to improve outcomes for the individuals they serve.

The Foundation is focused on improving the financial health of credit union members. Towards the end of 2017, the Foundation wrapped up a year-long grant funding effort to conduct consumer financial health check-ups with the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI). This work, generously funded and supported by CUNA Mutual Group, included financial health check-ups for six credit unions.

“Knowing that the greatest driver of bankruptcy is consumer medical debt, the need for collaboration and the integration of financial literacy, capability and resilience with health care decisions has never been greater,” said Gigi Hyland, Foundation Executive Director. “Our continued research has shown health care providers and credit unions share much in common. By working together, they can create improved outcomes for members and patients alike.”

In 2018, the Foundation continues to work with credit unions to develop products and solutions in the areas of consumer saving, borrowing, spending, and planning. By expanding the focus of financial health to examine the links to physical health, the Foundation is driving new conversations about the ways that credit union members and employees can achieve better financial health.

Available through the Foundation, funding of $90,000 is available to “seed” up to five credit unions to develop financial health-related KPIs to measure the financial health impact of a specific product, service and/or campaign using quantitative data that the credit unions have in their databases, identify business metrics or KPIs that may be affected by the specific product, service, and/or campaign, test drive KPIs and reporting process, and share measurement and impact learnings with the credit union community. The deadline to apply is August 31, 2018.

The grant application is available here through the Foundation’s website.

About the National Credit Union Foundation (ncuf.coop):

The National Credit Union Foundation (the Foundation) is the charitable arm of the U.S. credit union movement and works as a catalyst to improve people’s financial lives through credit unions. Through grants and programs, the Foundation is strengthening financial well-being, igniting passion and instilling knowledge about the credit union difference, and uniting resources to help credit union people during disaster. Donations to the Foundation ultimately enable credit unions to help their members reach life-changing goals and achieve financial freedom.