Through this new initiative, Georgia Tech researchers will leverage Fiserv data to generate insights into household financial behavior, which will be relevant to policy makers, consumers and small businesses.

The three-year partnership, funded by Fiserv, has a goal of increasing financial and payments inclusion.

“With the annual inflation rate in the U.S. at a four-decade high, understanding the financial health of U.S. consumers and offering innovative ways to increase their financial resiliency is paramount,” said Sudheer Chava, Alton M. Costley Chair Professor of Finance at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, who leads the FSIL. “By combining insights from unique data with our team’s expertise in household finance and big data analysis, we intend to deliver high-value insights about how major economic trends such as inflation affect U.S. consumers and small businesses.”

As a company that enables money movement for thousands of financial institutions and millions of people and businesses, Fiserv will enable FSIL to construct a comprehensive picture of consumer spending and financial health. This will allow researchers to generate valuable insights about how consumers and small businesses are impacted by sudden economic changes as well as larger economic trends.

“At Fiserv, we believe data can be used for the greater good, to not only understand the financial health of consumers and small businesses, but to actively create opportunities to further financial inclusion,” said Prasanna Dhore, Chief Data Officer at Fiserv. “By partnering with Georgia Tech, we will be able to grow our understanding of the populations and businesses who use our solutions every day, and take steps to positively impact people’s financial lives.”