Filene Research Institute has launched the second of six planned new Centers for Excellence in an effort to strengthen credit unions’ capacity to adapt to consumers’ changing financial lives and livelihoods as they face new forms of economic struggle and financial fragility. The new center was announced earlier today at the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference.

Lisa Servon, Ph.D., will serve as the center’s new research fellow. Servon is a Kevin and Erica Penn presidential professor and chair of city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design.

“People have a right to be financially healthy and the right to safe and quality financial services,” Servon said in a press release. “The work from this Center will help credit unions serve people facing different kinds of transitions — income volatility, retirement, physical health and inequalities.

Support for the Center of Consumer Financial Lives in Transition is provided by CUNA Mutual Group, BCU, Digital FCU and PSCU.

“At CUNA Mutual Group we believe that a brighter financial future should be accessible to everyone,” said Tim McAdow, vice president and go-to-customer of CUNA Mutual Group, in a press release. “When I consider the outcomes from this new center it’s clear we will generate fresh consumer insights and trigger dialogue that will help us all design and deliver more relevant and impactful experiences.”

The Center for Consumer Financial Lives in Transition follows the creation of the Center of Excellence for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in January. Filene plans to launch four additional new Centers of Excellence focusing on:

• best practices in measuring and accelerating innovation and incubation;
• emerging financial technologies and their effects on business strategy and consumer experience;
• the impacts of financial services on community well-being and the strategic advantages of social responsibility; and
• the advancement of credit unions’ capabilities in data governance, management and analytics.