Earnin Partners with Harvard-Based Opportunity Insights to Help Policy Makers Understand the Economic Impact of COVID Crisis

First Community-Supported Financial Platform Adds Insight to New Economic Tracker

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Earnin, the leader in innovative solutions to some of the world’s toughest financial problems, today announced that it is partnering with Opportunity Insights to help launch a new economic tracker, which will provide a deeper understanding of the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Opportunity Insights (OI) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization based at Harvard University. Earnin contributed to the OI Economic Tracker by providing an understanding of COVID-related employment trends in different areas of the country.

The Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker is available at tracktherecovery.org. Additional resources and analysis can be found at opportunityinsight.org/tracker-resources.

“Our Economic Tracker will provide policymakers, non-profits, and the public with the tools they need to tackle an economic crisis,” said economist Raj Chetty, Director of Opportunity Insights. “Rather than waiting weeks to see where the economy is falling and playing catch-up, the new data assembled in this tool offers the capacity to spot economic problems as they emerge and to consider a more targeted policy response.”

The OI Economic Tracker, launched with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is a unified platform that aggregates data from multiple sources to present a daily picture of economic activity. The interactive dashboard focuses on key economic indicators — including small business activity, employment, and consumer spending — alongside key contextual factors on education, public health, and policy milestones. Moreover, this data is provided at granular geographic levels and by industry and income level.

“The Economic Tracker is a great example of public and private organizations coming together in partnership to help solve a problem during a major crisis,” said Earnin CEO and Founder Ram Palaniappan. “Together, we’re able to help policymakers and the broader public get a clearer picture of how this crisis is impacting workers and communities in every corner of our economy.”

Data Privacy

The data reflected in the Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker, including all data provided by Earnin, are aggregated, de-identified, and do not reveal information about specific individuals, transactions, or businesses. Opportunity Insights is a leader in developing privacy protection tools and methods, and all data releases follow rigorous protocols to protect individual privacy.

About Earnin

Earnin is a community-supported financial platform with a suite of tools that let people take control of their financial future. Earnin started out by solving one of the greatest – and least discussed – inequities in the American financial system: the practice of employers paying workers bi-weekly. Earnin's core product, Cash Out, allows people to access the pay they've already earned. There are no loans or hidden costs. People pay what they choose. Other products include: Balance Shield, which helps prevent overdrafts, a financial calendar that helps people budget and schedule payments, and Health Aid, a service that negotiates unpaid medical bills without charging mandatory fees.

Current funding partners include: Andreessen Horowitz, Matrix Partners, Ribbit Capital, Felicis Ventures and March Capital.

About Opportunity Insights

Opportunity Insights is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization based at Harvard University that seeks to translate rigorous scientific research to policy change by harnessing the power of “big data” using an interdisciplinary approach.

Founded by economists Raj Chetty, John Friedman, and Nathaniel Hendren, Opportunity Insights’ mission is to identify barriers to economic opportunity and develop scalable solutions that will empower people throughout the United States to rise out of poverty and achieve better life outcomes.

For more information, please visit www.opportunityinsights.org.