Trust is at the Heart of Financial Inclusion
Earlier this year, Rhino Foods Foundation's Income Advance Program Manager attended the CU Growth and Innovation Summit in Chicago, a conference designed to bring together credit unions, nonprofits, service providers, and others to connect, learn, and grow. Going in, the expectation was the usual lineup: fintech, innovation, product development, and the latest digital tools.
But a different theme kept surfacing in panel discussions and breakout sessions alike. One that was unexpected and, honestly, exciting to hear at a financial institution conference.
That theme was trust.
Session after session, the message was consistent: trust is not just a nice-to-have. It is a key growth driver. Credit unions that focus on building genuine relationships over transactional ones see long-term returns. In fact, consumers are 2.5 times more likely to hold one or more accounts with a financial institution when they feel emotionally aligned with it. Without that foundation of trust, credit unions risk losing market share, not to a competitor with a better rate, but to one that simply makes people feel more seen and valued.
This is especially true as AI and fintech continue to drive greater automation, making the financial industry increasingly impersonal. In that environment, trust is not just a competitive edge; it is a differentiator that technology cannot easily replicate.
Reflecting on the conference brought to mind a recent report from the Financial Health Network titled Who Trusts Financial Institutions? The research explores exactly this: how trust is lagging across the financial market, and why it matters so much. As the report makes clear, trust shapes how consumers perceive a financial institution's intentions and effectiveness. When trust is low, people are more likely to question whether an institution is being fair with them and to lose confidence in its decisions altogether.
The data paints a sobering picture. While about 61% of Americans say they trust financial institutions "somewhat" or "completely," that headline number obscures some significant gaps:
Nearly 4 in 10 Americans feel skeptical about the safety of their deposits
Only 39% feel they receive good financial advice
Just 34% believe their financial institution is honest and transparent about costs and fees
Only 33% believe financial institutions genuinely want to help them improve their finances
The racial and ethnic disparities are equally significant. About 66% of white and Asian consumers say they trust their financial institutions, compared to just 48% of Black and Latine consumers. This aligns with broader research showing that Black and Latine households are more likely to be underbanked or unbanked in the U.S., a reflection of longstanding systemic inequities that the financial industry must actively work to address.
To build trust, financial institutions need to make a conscious effort to center financial inclusion, because it is essential to a well-functioning financial system. Trust and equity cannot sit on the sidelines. They need to be at the forefront of growth strategy, product development, community relations, and every aspect of how a financial institution operates.
This is exactly the lens through which we grow the Income Advance Program in new communities with financial institution partners: a focus on trust.
Financial institutions have become skilled at asking how to earn consumer trust, but far less practiced at asking the harder question: what would it look like to demonstrate that we trust them? The conventional risk model asks: what is the likelihood this person will fail us? The Income Advance Program asks a different question entirely: what happens when we decide, in advance, that this person is trustworthy? The answer, borne out in repayment rates and long-term engagement, is that people rise to meet the trust extended to them. When a financial institution removes the barrier of suspicion and replaces it with genuine support, it doesn't just make a loan, it changes the terms of the relationship. That shift, from gatekeeping to accompaniment, is where dignity lives.
The Income Advance program is designed to provide no-questions-asked, low-barrier, safe access to credit during times of financial stress, but the real ROI comes from the financial institution's long-term commitment to building trust with the borrower.For the lender, meaningful ROI doesn’t come from interest payments, it comes from the long-term relationship that’s been built with the borrower. By leading with empathy, borrowers are more likely to continue saving into the savings account opened for them, engage more deeply with the financial institution, refer others, and remain loyal customers going forward. With trust built into its core, a program like Income Advance gives financial institutions a concrete way to act on their values, meeting members in moments of need with support rather than just a transaction, and building the kind of lasting loyalty that no rate or product alone can create.
