Worldwide Finance Awards 2020

30 Acquisition International - 2020 Worldwide Finance Awards ccording to a 2017 report on income and living conditions, more than 40% of all EU households, which encompasses approximately 215 million people, are not financially empowered and have difficulty making ends meet. It can be difficult for these families and households to invest in their individual and family futures, but the Think Forward Initiative aims to address this. There can be many factors, including the level of income, that can explain why individuals and families might feel financially squeezed each month. Equally important are the small decisions that people make in their daily lives about how they spend their money. Although small, these decisions have a big impact on their financial wellbeing. This impact is made even more significant when these decisions are not properly thought through, and this can adversely affect a person’s financial wellbeing in the longer term. The Think Forward Initiative is based on the belief that society as a whole is better off when people make sound financial decisions. There are three Hubs that are core to what the initiative has to offer, and they are the Research Hub, the Accelerator Hub, and the Community Hub. Firstly, the Research Hub does cutting-edge, data-driven research in social and behavioural sciences to learn more about people’s decision-making habits and processes, whilst the Accelerator Hub translates those research insights into innovations. Essentially, the Accelerator Hub scouts and selects beneficial fintech start-ups, and supports them to scale faster and help people change their behaviour to improve their financial wellbeing. Financial decision-making is something that many people, if not all people, love to do when they have all the facts and are totally empowered to make the best decisions possible. But few people are in total and complete control of their finances, and many lack the knowledge to choose the best options available. The Think Forward Initiative is aimed at enabling and empowering people to have better financial control and helping to create a more financially healthy society. We find out more about this initiative and exactly what it offers to clients and members through its services. Most Empowering Financial Decision Making Initiative - Europe A Lastly, the Community Hub promotes the activities of the other two hubs through its network of community members, as well as launches campaigns to ensure that the initiative’s work reaches the people who need it the most. The whole mission of the Think Forward Initiative is focused on using the knowledge that it gains about financial decision-making as a springboard for action. Besides conducting vital research, the initiative also brings together experts from the financial industry, including policymakers, academics, consumer groups, and technology companies to develop actual tools that are personal, relevant, timely, and are able to help people. Just one great example of this is a recent development that is ongoing at the Think Forward Initiative. Researchers at the initiative have discovered that people are more likely to save more money if they knew how much their peers were saving. Therefore, via their Incubator track, they’ve challenged entrepreneurial teams to set about developing app solutions that can make use of these insights to steer consumer behaviour. One such project, GoTally, compares how similar people save, and using nudge theory, guides them to start “unspending” their money. Users of the app set concrete savings goals, receive suggestions based on their data, and will then be rewarded along the way for any savings they make. This may be just one example of how the Think Forward Initiative is helping people and society around them, but it highlights the importance of small everyday decisions and behavioural changes. With partners such as ING, Deloitte, IBM, the Centre for Economic Policy Research, Dell Technologies, and Amazon Web Services being behind the Think Forward Initiative, and with more partners who share the drive to improve the financial circumstances of individuals and households always welcome to join, the future remains bright. Together with its experts and its innovations, the initiative is gaining a deeper understanding of the behaviour behind financial decision- making. Using those insights, the Think Forward Initiative can help people make financial decisions that are better for them, and ultimately better for both society and the planet as well. Company: The Think Forward Initiative Contact: Dagmar van der Plas Website: www.thinkforwardinitiative.com