Meet Jane Barratt: a long-time champion of financial strength.
Barratt is Chief Advocacy Officer of MX where she works with government, regulatory bodies, financial institutions and industry groups to ensure people have secure access to their financial data.
Much of Barratt’s career has shown a spotlight on the financial wellness -- or lack thereof -- among consumers. Financial wellness is a source of anxiety for even well-off Americans. 59% of Americans with full-time jobs report that money matters are their number one source of stress, greater than job worries, relationships, or health concerns. Americans also have difficulty saving money. Just 42% percent of Americans have at least $1,000 saved, and this number is getting worse over time. Five years ago, 48% had saved $1,000.
Barratt also advocates for customer control of data as a step toward financial security. In a recent report, MX noted, “Consumer data has traditionally been used primarily to sell more stuff at enormous profits for the ‘platforms’ who sell this data. The future is coming where consumers could and should own and control the asset that is their personal data.” Examples of this are consumers selling shopping data in exchange for deals from merchants, using bots to negotiate prices with other bots, and searching for better or more relevant deals.