JPMorgan Chase today announced a $125 million, five-year global commitment to improve the financial health of underserved communities. Through collaboration with community organizations, the investment will also help inform the development of products and services that can make banking more accessible to more people.

The new philanthropic investment is part of JPMorgan Chase’s efforts to drive economic opportunity in cities across the world. The bank will identify, evaluate and help expand fintech solutions, and financial coaching programs to help people increase their savings, build credit, reduce debt and achieve their financial goals.

“When we create opportunities that make prosperity possible for more people, we become stronger as a country,” said Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO of Consumer Banking at Chase. “Our firm is being intentional in our approach by bringing together our people, our products and branches, our digital tools, and our community investments so we can serve everyone, including those who need it most.”

$125 million investment in communities

According to the World Bank’s Findex, more than 1 billion adults across the world struggle managing their financial lives. In the U.S., new research from JPMorgan Chase and Morning Consult found that:

• More than 1 in 5 Americans are not saving on a monthly basis.

• 52 percent of Americans do not have enough money saved or on hand for a $500 emergency.

This is in line with findings from the JPMorgan Chase Institute that most households do not have sufficient liquid assets to weather 90 percent of income and expense fluctuations.

The $125 million investment will help tackle these issues for underserved communities – including low-income women, immigrants, people of color and the aging – by supporting the creation, testing and enhancement of innovative fintech tools that address their unique financial needs. In addition, it will support the development and expansion of proven financial coaching and just-in-time resources that can help people weather unexpected emergencies and meet their long-term financial goals – from building credit to buying a home.

“Good financial health is a key component of creating economic opportunity for residents,” said Clarence E. Anthony, CEO and Executive Director at National League of Cities. “The investment JPMorgan Chase & Co. is making in underserved communities will support local leaders’ efforts to build more financially resilient and inclusive cities.”

Examples of new philanthropic investments include:

Building credit

Mission Asset Fund: $1 million philanthropic investment to expand loan product offerings that help small business owners and immigrants improve credit and enter the financial system.

Increasing savings

EARN: $1 million philanthropic investment in EARN to expand SaverLife, a national savings platform that helps low-income households build the financial cushion that they need to weather financial shocks.

Catalyst Miami: $500,000 commitment to help low-income households in Miami be financially resilient – especially in the face of unexpected, climate-related events, like hurricanes – by building savings.

Reducing debt

United Way Miami Dade County: $300,000 commitment to help women in Miami reduce or eliminate their debt to become crisis resistant.

Learning and Work Institute: £590,000 (approximately $800,000) commitment to help low-income households in London manage financial shocks and avoid debt.

Meeting mid- and long-term financial goals

Compass Working Capital: $500,000 commitment to help public housing residents in Boston – predominantly women – reduce debt in addition to building savings and improving their credit scores.

International Rescue Committee (IRC): $600,000 commitment to offer refugees and immigrants in San Diego, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Oakland financial coaching and affordable small-dollar loans to meet their goals, such as accessing education or starting a business.

“Financial health is foundational to every dream realized,” said José Quiñonez, CEO of Mission Asset Fund. “JPMorgan Chase’s leadership and investments to help new Americans improve their financial lives ensure that everyone has the opportunity to fulfill their economic potential, live their dreams, and contribute their part in making America better.”

“Helping more communities access the tools that they need to manage their financial lives and meet their goals is a critical component of ensuring that more people benefit from economic growth,” said Colleen Briggs, Head of Community Innovation at JPMorgan Chase. “Through this effort, we will test and scale promising financial solutions to support the prosperity of households and communities around the world.”

Supporting the financial needs of customers

Over the past five years, the firm has been working with 250 organizations globally to create paths to financial health, including new savings products and models. Insights from these efforts are helping inform new products and services at Chase, and the bank’s market expansion.

Some examples include:

Autosave: A digital tool that has helped customers save more than $160 million to date by saving automatically, regardless of the amount.

Chase Secure Banking: A low fee checking account that can help those new to banking or who have had trouble keeping an account in the past. The checkless account comes with no overdraft fees, the ability to make electronic payments and full access to Chase branches, ATMs and digital tools. Secure Banking can help customers avoid check cashing and other costly alternative services. Thousands of customers across the U.S. are already benefiting from its features.

Credit Journey: A free digital tool that is helping more than 15 million people monitor their credit – whether they are a customer or not – providing instant access to their credit score, and information on how different actions can impact it.

Branches: 30 percent of new branches are in low- and middle-income neighborhoods. In addition, Chase has rolled out Chase Chats – workshops and informational sessions at branches around the country focused on everything from budgeting, saving and retirement, to starting a business.

A history of advancing financial health

Over the last five years, JPMorgan Chase committed over $100 million to 250 nonprofit organizations and research institutions across the world, helping 7 million people improve their financial health and save more than $1 billion.

The bank has been collaborating with U.S. organizations like the Financial Health Network (formerly the Center for Financial Services Innovation), Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, National League of Cities and MyPath. Globally, the firm has been working with organizations like the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation (IIMA-CIIE), BFA and the Learning and Work Institute in the UK.

It has also been leveraging the expertise and time of its employees to help maximize the impact of its philanthropic investments on the financial health of communities with over 3,000 employees having volunteered more than 34,000 hours.