BrightLeaf Enhances Financial Planning for Members

BrightLeaf Financial Network, a consumer financial planning service offered exclusively through credit unions, has introduced a new version of its Web-based service.To help members assess their plan strength, BrightLeaf (www.brightleaffinancial.com) gives each member a letter grade of A, B, C, D or F that indicates how likely they are to achieve their financial goals. The BrightLeaf service examines five interrelated areas of financial planning: spending, debt management, insurance, retirement and future goals. After completing the online process, members receive a set of reports that provide specific steps to achieve targeted goals, such as paying off debt or saving for retirement. The two primary reports are the FIT List (Financial Improvement Tasks), which deals with near-term financial issues, and the GET List (Goal Execution Tasks) for longer-term goals.Credit union members will see the familiar “Sophie” character that was featured in the service’s previous version as a personal guide. Unlike the old version, Sophie is now an opt-in tool so members don’t have to hear her repeating the same prompts, according to BrightLeaf.Created in 2008 by MEMBERS Development Co., BrightLeaf has ten credit union clients and is based in Winston-Salem, N.C.–[email protected]