Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the impact of the Get Checking program on financial management behaviors and account usage.
- The study used an interrupted time series design. Using survey data, the author compared the outcomes of individuals before and after participation in the Get Checking program.
- The study found no statistically significant relationships between the Get Checking program and financial management behaviors and account usage of participants following certification.
- The study receives a low evidence rating. This means we are not confident that any estimated effects would have been attributable to the Get Checking program; other factors would have likely contributed. However, the study did not find statistically significant effects.
Intervention Examined
Get Checking
Features of the Intervention
Developed in 1998, the Get Checking program was created as a "second chance" program to encourage financial education, repayment of debt owed to financial institutions, and the opening of a checking or savings account for adults reported for account abuse or mismanagement. Eventually, the program partnered with financial institutions across the country to implement the program. The course included lessons on choosing appropriate accounts, managing a checking account, and financial planning and credit score basics. Following the conclusion of the class, participants take a quiz on the principles taught to earn a certificate. Upon obtaining the certification, participants were able to use the certification at Get Checking partner financial institutions to open an account.
Features of the Study
The study used an interrupted time series design to compare financial management behaviors and account usage outcomes before and after participation in the Get Checking program. Study participants included individuals who held certifications from the Get Checking program that was delivered in Central Indiana from 2003 to 2005. The authors mailed follow-up surveys to 1,188 participants in 2006. Of the participants who were sent a survey, data from 160 of the 161 returned surveys was used in the analysis. The authors used statistical tests to measure the impact of the Get Checking Program on financial management behaviors and account usage outcomes before and after participation.
Findings
Knowledge and skills for money management
- The study found no significant relationships between the between the Get Checking program and communication with financial institutions, maintaining a checking account or savings account or reducing behaviors that were reported for mismanagement or abuse of financial accounts following program certification.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The authors compared the outcomes of participants measured before and after they participated in the program. For these types of designs, the author must observe outcomes for multiple periods before the intervention to rule out the possibility that participants had increasing or decreasing trends in the outcomes examined before program participation. That is, if participants who had increasing financial behaviors tended to participate in the program, we would anticipate further increases over time, even if they did not participate in the program. Without knowing the trends before program participation, we cannot rule this out. Therefore, the study receives a low causal evidence rating.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the authors did not account for trends in outcomes before the intervention. This means we are not confident that any estimated effects would have been attributable to the Get Checking program; other factors would have likely contributed. However, the study did not find statistically significant effects.