Start at home: Testing what works to advance employee financial well-being

Last registered on August 26, 2021

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Start at home: Testing what works to advance employee financial well-being

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0008149

Initial registration date

August 25, 2021

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

August 26, 2021, 1:02 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Amanda Utevsky

Affiliation

Duke University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Mariel Beasley

PI Affiliation

Duke University

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Zarak Khan

PI Affiliation

Duke University

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Jeremy Burke

PI Affiliation

University of Southern California

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2021-08-12

End date

2022-08-18

Keywords

Behavior, Finance & Microfinance

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

The Common Cents Lab and University of Southern California are working with three credit unions to examine the effect of splitting direct deposit paychecks into savings accounts. Participants will be employees of the three credit unions. We will send email messaging to all employees who fit the eligibility criteria and examine the effect of split direct deposit messaging on take-up rates, account balances over time, and subjective measures of financial wellbeing collected via surveys.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Beasley, Mariel et al. 2021. "Start at home: Testing what works to advance employee financial well-being." AEA RCT Registry. August 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8149-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2021-08-26

Intervention End Date

2022-08-18

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Split direct deposit take-up rate.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

We will compare split direct-deposit rates between employees in the treatment group, who were encouraged to split their direct deposit, and employees in the control group, who were not.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Credit union account balances, change in subjective measures of financial wellbeing.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

We will compare credit union account (checking and savings) balances over 6-8 months following the direct deposit email launch between the control and treatment groups, as well as among the employees who were excluded from randomization. We will additionally compare changes in subjective measures of financial wellbeing collected from survey responses pre-intervention and post-intervention.

Experimental Design

Employees randomized to the treatment group will receive an initial email and a reminder email suggesting that they split their direct deposit to build extra slack into their finances. The emails will also contain 5 financial wellness tips (none of which pertain to splitting direct deposit). Employees randomized to the control group will receive an initial email and a reminder email with 5 financial wellness tips. All emails will be sent the treatment and control groups on the same day; the initial and reminder emails will be separated from each other by approximately 1 week.

Prior to the initial intervention email, all employees will receive an initial and reminder email suggesting they complete a financial wellbeing survey. These emails will be sent to everyone on the same say; the initial and reminder emails will be separated from each other by approximately 1 week.

Six to eight months later, employees will receive another initial and reminder email requesting that they complete the same financial wellbeing survey. This will allow us to look at pre- and post-survey measures and compare changes between the treatment arms.

Participants will be given a non-identifiable unique ID that will allow the researchers to connect their account balance data, survey scores, and behavior in response to the emails.

Duke University will collect the survey responses via Qualtrics. The credit unions will collect account balance data, demographic data, and other financial data (such as income and retirement contributions, when possible). Account balances will be pulled approximately every two weeks for six to eight months.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Employees are excluded from randomization if they: took part in designing/implementing the study, already split their direct deposit between 2 or more financial accounts, and/or already send their entire direct deposit into a savings account. Employees who fit the inclusion criteria, from across three credit unions, will be randomized to either the treatment or control group using a random number generator.

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

n/a

Sample size: planned number of observations

Approximately 1500 total people are employees across the three credit unions; approximately 1000 employees will be randomized to treatment and control groups.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Approximately 500 participants will be in each treatment arm (treatment and control). Approximately 500 will be considered “excluded” from randomization but some may be considered for analyses.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB