Welcome to the Center
for Consumer Financial Services

Mission Statement

Promoting personal financial literacy, responsible consumer financial services and ethical business practices that enhance the lives of individuals, communities and the nation.

 

RIT's Center for Consumer Financial Services was established in the spring of 2006 as part of the E. Philip Saunders College of Business. The Center is directed by Dr. Robert D. Manning, Research Professor of Consumer Finance and national authority on financial issues and author of Credit Card Nation. The mission of the Center is to provide a unique consumer-industry perspective of the profound changes in the retail banking industry and their impact on American society at the individual, household, community and national levels.

The primary mission of the Center for Consumer Financial Services is threefold:

  • To conduct cutting edge research on consumer credit/debt related topics as well as product development/market research on new consumer financial services as they affect individual consumers, households, communities and the nation. For example, the rapid increase in mortgage foreclosures and resale of consumer debt in the secondary market through asset-backed securities (securitization).

  • To promote, develop and assess innovative financial literacy and educational-related programs over the life-course through traditional and online media. These include debt management and personal investment programs for college students as well as professional certifications for financial planners or debt management counselors.

  • To provide non-partisan public policy analysis on consumer financial trends, proposed state and federal legislation, and statutory/regulatory issues such as the recent reform of consumer bankruptcy laws.