It is really important for community organizations to provide fair and honest information about different forms of financial services. Working with Prosper, a number of organizations across the country have contributed to growing the field of what we call “financial empowerment”. An important part of financial empowerment is money management—financial literacy, as you describe it—which includes ensuring that people have good information about different financial services and products. Ideally, we as community organizations can connect people to the most affordable and fair financial services and products.
That is a really important role of community-based financial services. It's not only about providing the information, but about helping people make an informed decision about what financial services and products they end up using.