Our Development Process

San Francisco, EST 2014

Guided by our values, MAF’s research uplifts the good in people’s lives. We know our clients are financially savvy and respect them as the experts in managing their finances — so we focus not only on the barriers they face but also on the strategies that they use to navigate these challenges and achieve their goals. Our research shines a light on their financial journeys and strategies, and use these insights to push for legislation and systemic reform that moves us toward a more equitable financial mainstream.

What data are we drawing from

Over more than a decade, MAF has worked with over 10K clients, building a total loan pool of over $10 million. Our research draws on the unique insights and depth of information we have from these clients. During our engagement in our clients’ financial lives, we are able to collect 800 data points on each individual – spanning the personal and credit profiles of our clients.

Why we do research

The Research team works with the community to put our data and analysis to work for clients. We provide actionable insights, inspired by clients’ financial lives, that we, other financial services providers, philanthropists, policy makers, and members of the community can use to inform our work. By rigorously developing these insights from our programmatic data, we are able to:

Support MAF’s core values of meeting our clients where they are, respect their expertise, and build on their strengths and innovations.
Help guide the development of future programs that respond to our clients’ needs and realities.
Share our learnings with other organizations to help them better work with the communities we serve.
Capitalize on our data to help our clients, partners, and others advocate for a fairer financial marketplace.