For over 30 years, American Consumer Credit Counseling, Inc (ACCC) has been serving struggling consumers in financial crisis by providing financial education, budget counseling, and Debt Management Programs. However, the scope of ACCC’s reach has been limited to consumers that reach out to us primarily through Internet advertising. Consumer demand for credit counseling services is shrinking due to the abundance of less favorable options being promoted by for-profit Debt Settlement companies, Consolidation Loans, and FinTech companies. In addition, the new generation of consumers requires a digital entry point making services more easily accessible, streamlined, intuitive, and convenient. Based on the current debt management model, there is no long-term engagement to promote financial stability throughout all stages of the financial journey by providing ongoing education and financial tools. Many consumers complete a Debt Management Program only to enroll again within a few years. The lack of continued financial education and engagement with past clients makes it more likely that they will need debt management intervention in the future.
To counteract these voids in the industry, ACCC has begun the process of developing a new mobile application, CreditU, that combines cutting-edge AI technology with the personalized connection and knowledge of credit counselors, which will allow us to scale exponentially. The objectives of this app are to better engage existing clients in a Debt Management Program, further support clients who have completed the program reach their full financial potential, and help consumers that are on the verge of needing a DMP to get back on track by providing consumers with budgeting tools and personalized financial dashboards. The application will provide fluid data monthly, allowing our clients to see their DMP progress, track their spending, review their credit scores, and set financial goals. With this proposed model, ACCC anticipates being able to help a much larger population of nationwide consumers, even when the DMP isn’t the most appropriate solution.
In the application, users can manually enter their budget expenses or link their bank accounts and/or credit cards for a more accurate picture. Data will be updated monthly, and CreditU will be able to show consumers where they may be overspending, track their debt-to-income ratio, monitor their credit score, and track their progress on the goals they set for themselves. The application will also provide ongoing financial education materials in the form of “snacks” (articles, tips, facts, advice, and videos), catered to each client’s unique situation, driven by an artificial intelligence algorithm. The AI model will continue to learn as new data and client feedback are gathered, ensuring that the content is both relevant and engaging to the client as they move through each stage of their financial journey.
CreditU will revolutionize the way financial education and DMP services are delivered by ACCC, and perhaps the industry. CreditU will expedite the intake process for counselors. Once new users have completed the app onboarding and added their financial data, an AI model will review the information and make customized suggestions based on the client’s unique situation. Financial education will be provided to all users. Each consumer will have the ability to enter their financial goals, current view of their situation, and spending habits. If necessary, the application will refer the consumer to speak to a Certified Credit Counselor, who will take a deeper dive into the consumer’s situation and evaluate the need for DMP intervention. Our current proprietary counseling application will be used as the framework for developing the app’s recommendations, using our extensive expertise in evaluating client needs. This will allow us to serve a larger population using existing resources and to provide guidance and support to consumers throughout their financial journey rather than just at the point of financial crisis.
ACCC’s current client management portal and member’s site are limited in terms of engaging clients. Many client transactions and questions need to be addressed via a phone call to our Client Services team. Many of the questions that come in through phone calls can be easily answered through improved technology. CreditU will be utilizing a ChatBot to help answer client questions about their DMP, assist them with the expectations of the DMP, and refer them to a representative as needed. Clients will also have the ability to view the statuses of their DMP proposals, view fluid account balances, track DMP progress, make additional payments, and add new accounts to the program without having to speak to a representative. This is going to reduce the number of phone calls and issues that our reps will be working on, allowing them to focus on the more pressing client issues that need human intervention.
This will also provide ACCC with the support and framework to help scale our business and support more clients in a DMP.
ACCC believes this app has the potential to be transcendent in reaching underserved markets. Our community outreach team has relationships with underserved populations in homeless shelters, prisons, immigrants/refugees, military/veterans and their families, schools, etc. We envision obtaining additional grant funding to furnish CreditU for free to all of our outreach partner organizations to offer as a benefit to their constituents, providing much-needed ongoing support to those most vulnerable. CreditU will provide the tools needed to learn basic financial skills, goal settings, and eventually access to financial products appropriate to their needs.
CreditU will be a free application for all DMP clients. Funding would allow us to consider providing free to all users that download the app for a period of time and connect their accounts, but currently these costs prohibit ACCC from implementing. Additionally, many features of the application will be free to all consumers. These features include financial education “snacks”, ability to track financial successes and metrics, connecting of financial accounts, goal setting, and gamification. This free model will be especially important to those consumers with low to moderate income. These consumers represent a segment of the population that could benefit most from the app’s services and may not have the means to upgrade to a paid model. In addition, all new users will get one month of free content so that they can evaluate the benefits of using the app before deciding on whether to upgrade to paid features.
To stimulate engagement in the app, ACCC will be introducing a gamification model to help users stay on track with their goals and finances. Significant milestones and achievements will be rewarded with Experience Points and Badges to help motivate consumers to succeed. Users will also be able to add a social component to their experience, challenging friends to reach goals and competing to gain the most accolades. The gamification model, along with customized education materials, will help draw users into the app on a regular basis, helping them stay on track and reach their full financial potential.
The outcomes that ACCC expects to achieve through adoption of the CreditU app will include an increase in credit score, opening opportunities for more favorable lines of credit, jobs, and housing; reduction in debt; increase in savings; balanced budget/positive cash flow; setting and achieving financial goals; and increasing financial literacy. Metrics of success to be tracked are the number of users active in the app, number of financial goals met, number of financial education materials absorbed, improvement in financial knowledge via quizzes, number of clients with an increased credit score, number of clients with increased savings, and number of clients with a balanced budget.
To achieve these outcomes, ACCC will strive to increase user engagement, provide continued education to consumers while in the DMP, build life-long relationships with consumers not enrolled in the DMP and those that have completed the program, build referral partnerships for services outside of ACCC’s areas of expertise, streamline our counseling process to be able to help more consumers, and improve service provided to clients in the DMP.
