D2D Fund

Test Description

D2D developed Online IDA with SunGard Employee Benefit Systems in 2002. Three IDA programs began a round of testing in 2003: Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation in Boston, the Assets for All Alliance in San Jose, and WECO Fund, Inc. in Cleveland. This test was supported by Fleet Bank and KeyBank and concluded in the fall of 2004.

An improved version of Online IDA was launched for testing in the summer of 2004 with Women's Opportunities Resource Center in Philadelphia, Earned Assets Resource Network in San Francisco and the Assets for All Alliance. Participants in this second pilot test used Electronic Funds Transfer to contribute to their IDAs and, in many cases, could receive online financial education. This pilot was completed in 2006.

Test Results

95 participants enrolled in the two pilots.

Who Enrolled?

In general, the demographic profile of Online IDA participants resembled that of traditional IDA programs.

• Gender: 74% were women.
• Ethnicity: Due to pilot geographic locations, Asian Americans and Hispanics represented 47% and 25% of the total pilot population, respectively.
• Employment and education status: 51% classified themselves as employed full-time.

Did Participants Save?

On average, Online IDA participants made higher monthly contributions than traditional IDA participants. The mean average net monthly deposit for the two pilots combined was $73, compared to $40 among the 2,364 accountholders in a traditional IDA program. In both pilots, median savings contributions for participants exceeded $500.

Did they like it?

At the end of the pilots, when asked, “how satisfied have you been with your online IDA experience?” 78% of respondents answered either “very” or “extremely satisfied”. When asked, “How would you prefer to contribute to your IDA?”, 90%+ selected “on the Internet using Online IDA” over either “At the bank branch” or “Using an ATM”.

Comfort in using the Internet for financial transactions increased markedly during both pilots. Respondents were asked at the beginning and end of the pilot about their "comfort using the Internet for transactions with money". Those reporting being “comfortable” or “very comfortable” increased from 41% at the beginning to 75% at the end.