Research Report Tax Time Account Direct Mail Pilot Evaluation
Caroline Ratcliffe, Signe-Mary McKernan
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Millions of U.S. adults are unbanked and lack access to safe financial accounts. The MyAccountCard pilot program offered low-income adults a prepaid card account that could be used for electronic delivery of their tax refunds and everyday financial transactions. Key findings from the evaluation, designed to test different account features, include (1) the card account appealed most to its target population: likely unbanked individuals were three times more likely to take-up the card; (2) individuals are price sensitive: charging a monthly fee decreased card take-up by roughly 40 percent; and (3) the savings account as designed in this pilot was not perceived as valuable.
Research Areas Wealth and financial well-being Social safety net
Tags Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Asset and debts
Policy Centers Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population