SAN FRANCISCO, CA and DURHAM, NC--(Marketwired - Mar 15, 2017) -  Common Cents Lab, a financial research lab at Duke University supported by MetLife Foundation, today unveiled the 16 new behavioral design partners selected for its work in 2017. Each year, the lab collaborates with chosen financial services providers to custom design, test, and launch new features and products that aim to increase financial well-being for 1.8 million low- to moderate-income (LMI) households in America.

"In our first year, we showed how behavioral interventions can influence positive, measurable improvements in financial well-being," said Common Cents founder, Behavioral Economics Professor, and New York Times bestselling author Dan Ariely. "The response to our 2017 call for applicants is uplifting because it demonstrates a deep industry-wide desire to use behavioral insights in service to LMI households."

These new partner financial organizations represent a mix of the top fintech companies, financial nonprofits, and innovative credit unions, and were chosen from a field of competitive applicants. Their year-long collaboration with Common Cents will focus on interventions that increase short- and long-term savings, improve access to credit, and better manage debt and cash flow.

Fintech partners include:

• ActiveHours: provides people access to their paycheck at the tap of a button;
• Chime: a bank account that helps members avoid fees and automate their savings;
• CoinFlip: instantly reduces the amount shoppers pay on groceries by applying third party funds.
• Digital Insight, an NCR Company: provides digital banking solutions to simplify money management;
• DoubleNetPay: actionable and automated financial wellness;
• Homebase: helps local businesses save time with scheduling, time clock and team communication tools.

Nonprofit partners include:

• Accion: provides inclusive access to capital and business support to entrepreneurs across the country;
• Community Empowerment Fund: builds assets with people experiencing homelessness and financial insecurity;
• Grameen America: supports low-income women entrepreneurs;
• Navicore Solutions: offers financial counseling and debt management;
• Promise Indiana: provides a Children's Savings Account (CSA) program for future education;
• The City of St. Louis Treasurer's Office of Financial Empowerment: provides college savings accounts for all kindergarten students in St. Louis public schools;
• United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona: provides free, quality tax preparation, assists taxpayers to access all tax credits for which they are eligible, and encourages tax-time savings.

Credit union partners include:

• Freedom First Credit Union
• IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union
• San Antonio Credit Union

These new partners are part of a three-year effort to improve the financial well-being of 1.8 million LMI households in America. Common Cents' goal is to gain scalable behavioral insights for new features and products that can improve financial decision-making in an economically viable way for businesses.

The Common Cents approach to designing financial interventions is informed by a three-step process for behavioral diagnosis that includes identifying the specific and desired key behaviors, removing the barriers impeding that behavior, and then amplifying the benefits of that behavior.

Common Cents recently shared the results of its work with 17 behavioral design partners in 2016 as part of its Annual Report. Once fully rolled out, Common Cents expects its 2016 interventions to have a direct positive impact on hundreds of thousands of LMI households.

To learn more about participating partners for 2017 please visit http://advanced-hindsight.com/2017-common-cents-partners/.

About The Common Cents Lab

The Common Cents Lab, supported by MetLife Foundation, is a financial research lab at the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University that creates and tests interventions to help low- to moderate-income households increase their financial well-being. Common Cents leverages research gleaned from behavioral economics to create interventions that lead to positive financial behaviors. The lab is led by famed Behavioral Economics Professor Dan Ariely and is comprised of researchers and experts in product design, economics, psychology, public policy, advertising, business administration, and more.

To fulfill its mission, Common Cents partners with organizations, including fintech companies, credit unions, banks, and nonprofits, that believe their work could be improved through insights gained from behavioral economics. To learn more about Common Cents Lab visit www.commoncentslab.org.

About MetLife Foundation

MetLife Foundation was created in 1976 to continue MetLife's long tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. Since its founding through the end of 2016, MetLife Foundation has provided more than $744 million in grants and $70 million in program-related investments to organizations addressing issues that have a positive impact in their communities.

Today, the Foundation is dedicated to advancing financial inclusion, committing $200 million to help build a secure future for individuals and communities around the world.

To learn more about MetLife Foundation, visit www.metlife.org.