Brightside Financial Care

What is Brightside Financial Care?

Brightside is an employee benefit that improves the financial health of working families. We created Financial Care, a new category in employee benefits, that combines behavioral science, technology, and human-led care to meet employees where they are, in the moments that matter most, and support them in establishing financial comfort. 

Financial Care requires these critical elements: 

• Brightside Financial Assistant, an empathetic navigator who uses AI-powered tools to access the best options for each individual and does the “legwork” to ensure success

• Real solutions that support financial health, including safe, paycheck-linked solutions employees cannot find on their own, combined with Brightside’s database of options, including free resources, employee benefits, and other financial products

• An easy-to-use Brightside app that facilitates onboarding and secure Financial Assistant interactions, monitors progress, and provides access to Brightside solutions

These must all be built on the foundations of behavioral science and never profit from employees’ choices. 

How does Brightside’s Financial Care benefit employers?

With just 30% of employees considered financially healthy, financial illness is an epidemic that prevents employees from showing up to work as their best selves and costs employers $3,000 to $4,000 per employee, each year. 

Financial health is a primary social determinant of health and poor financial health drives higher healthcare costs, turnover, absenteeism, reduced productivity, and compromised workplace safety. Brightside Financial Care is the only solution designed to improve employees’ financial health while delivering meaningful ROI for employers.

How does Brightside Financial Care help employees?

Brightside helps support over 800,000 families by meeting employees where they are, in moments that matter, to address urgent financial challenges and improve their financial health. Every Brightside user works with a dedicated Brightside Financial Assistant by phone or secure chat. This becomes a trusted partner who is on the side of the employee and helps them understand all of their available options while providing personalized, non-judgmental, empathetic support for any financial need.

What types of financial needs does Brightside Financial Care support?

Brightside offers real solutions for all financial needs, including crisis situations and money emergencies, managing debt including student loans, improving credit scores, creating spending and savings plans, building emergency savings, prioritizing bills, navigating the financial impacts of life events such as divorce, understanding ways to prepare for retirement, and helping employees stretch paychecks further. To date, Brightside has put roughly $56 million back in the pockets of participating employees, which averages more than a week’s pay.

Is Brightside different from financial wellness programs?

Yes. Brightside Financial Care is the only solution that supports the unique needs of the 70% of employees who are living paycheck to paycheck while delivering meaningful ROI for employers through outcomes such as improved productivity, retention, workforce safety, and lower healthcare costs. Brightside helps employees navigate their unique financial situations in ways traditional financial wellness solutions can’t. Unlike traditional financial wellness programs, which typically focus on CFP-led financial planning and financial education, Brightside’s Financial Care combines personalized, human-centered support with technology, behavioral science, and a suite of vetted solutions that serve all financial needs, including the unique needs of financially vulnerable employees, which financial wellness isn’t designed to support. Employees work one-on-one with a dedicated Financial Assistant trained in behavioral science, who helps them find and understand all available options based on their unique financial situation, including free and affordable solutions they can’t find on their own.

How does Brightside’s model align with Social Determinants of Health?

Financial strain is one of the leading social determinants affecting health outcomes. It’s correlated with poorer physical and mental health, causes people to avoid medical care, skip taking prescribed medications, and ignore health issues until they escalate, due to cost. 

After their first engagement with Brightside, 80% of employees report feeling less financial stress, which can positively impact physical and mental health, and help employees show up to work as their best selves. By improving employee financial health and employees’ financial stability, Brightside also lowers healthcare costs for employers.

What kind of support can employees expect from Brightside Financial Assistants?

Employees receive personalized, judgment-free support from their Financial Assistant, who can help with a wide range of financial needs including managing debt, building credit, navigating urgent crises, starting to build emergency savings, and more. Brightside’s Financial Assistants build trusting relationships with employees and help them take steps that improve their financial health, while also building hope that their financial situation can and will improve. 

What types of products and services does Brightside offer?

As part of its real solutions and personalized support, Brightside offers eligible employees the option to apply for loans through its loan partners to help with money emergencies (even if they have a low credit score); a free high-interest Brightside Savings Account with no fees or minimum balances, to help grow their money faster; a free Brightside Spending Account including a debit card to use for purchases and a $100 Cash Advance feature, and more. Brightside is not a lender and does not determine loan approval. 

What reporting and analytics does Brightside provide for employers?

Keeping individual-level employee data confidential, Brightside offers in-depth reporting metrics including engagement, case types, and financial health improvements, including the percent of employees who begin saving, improvements in credit scores, after-tax income saved by employees, net promoter score, and  employees’ self-reported perceptions of working with Brightside, including reduced financial stress and improved sentiment toward their employer. Quarterly reviews with Brightside also include analyses of measurable results including but not limited to, impact on turnover, healthcare costs, productivity, absenteeism, and other measures related to overall employee wellbeing.

Does Brightside integrate with other employer benefits?

Yes, Brightside connects employees with all relevant employer benefits. Our Financial Assistants are trained to help employees leverage these benefits as part of Financial Care, providing a seamless experience and ensuring employees maximize all available resources.

What results can employers expect from offering Brightside Financial Care?

On average, employers using Brightside see results including: 

• 41% reduction in turnover

• $1,200 of after-tax income back in the pockets of employees

• 10% reduction in workplace safety incidents

• 36 + more hours worked per employee/year

• 34% reduction in employees with subprime credit scores

• 50% of employees automatically saving from each paycheck

• 80% increase in employees contributing to their 401(k) participation

Is Brightside easy to implement? 

Yes. Brightside will work with an employer’s payroll, eligibility, and benefits teams to set up the necessary data connections and processes.