Closing the racial wealth gap won’t be easy, but one financial institution is betting on AI to help speed up the process.
OneUnited Bank, the largest Black-owned bank in the U.S., unveils WiseOne® Insights, what they describe as a financial wellness companion that will help guide them to money fitness. protect individuals by leveraging financial literacy.
“WiseOne Insights transcends conventional banking solutions,” said Kevin Cohee, Chairman & CEO of OneUnited Bank said in a statement. “As a financial wellness companion, it literally allows individuals to make better financial decisions thus directly addressing the critical need for improved financial literacy in our society.”
Per a recent report released by the TIAA Institute, a 2019 sampling of about 1,000 U.S. adults answered questions about personal finance. According to the findings, about 66% of African Americans report that they are doing at least while 78% of whites said the same. Median household income for Black Americans sat at $35,400 in 2016 while whites took in about $61,200.
“African American household net worth was $17,600 in 2016 and 19% had zero or negative net worth,” the report states. “Financial literacy is low among many U.S. adults, including African Americans. On average, African American adults answered 38% of the P-Fin Index questions correctly. Only 28% answered over one-half of index questions correctly, with 5% answering over 75% correctly.”
WiseOne® aims to help provide intuitive guidance to help increase the financial fitness for consumers. For example, the tool sends bill payment alerts, helps allocate extra funds to savings, and curate personalized debt management strategies.
Per a news release, “Building on its history of activism and technological innovation, OneUnited Bank’s launch of WiseOne Insights reaffirms its commitment to both elevate financial literacy as a core societal value and leverage technology to narrow societal gaps.”