Financial Wellness Cheat Sheet: Driving Success for Your Consumers

Fifty-five percent of consumers said money worries had a severe or major impact on their mental health in the past year. And, 44% of consumers said their financial stress has impacted their physical health in the last year, according to a recent study by Voya.

That’s why financial wellness is a much greater conversation than simple budgeting. It’s physical health. Mental health. Emotional health. It contributes to the entire state of well-being for consumers. MX’s Senior Director of Product Management, Billy Gast, shares why financial wellness matters — for consumers and businesses.

Achieving financial wellness does not lie with consumers alone. Regulators should stand for legislation that positively impacts consumers and makes financial wellness possible. And, more importantly, financial institutions should center their offers and services around financial wellness.

The Role that Providers Play in Financial Wellness

Consumers want financial help from their financial providers, but many are left unsatisfied. MX found that 37% of consumers say financial providers don’t do enough to support their financial needs. Diving into specific use cases, 38% of consumers feel that financial providers aren’t doing enough to help them reach their financial goals.

Consumers are asking for help. It’s up to financial providers to meet consumer expectations and transform their financial wellness. Here is our cheat sheet for how you can drive financial success across your consumer base:

1. Provide the Right PFM Tools

Having the right tools and placing those tools in consumers’ hands is one of the first things that financial providers can do to promote financial wellness for their consumers. Personal Financial Management (PFM) tools are a powerful way that providers can help consumers bring together disparate accounts into one view, track their spending, create budgets, and better understand their finances.

One of the biggest benefits of providing consumers with a PFM tool is the ability to gain personalized insights into their financial lives. And, consumers want this. MX recently found that 51% of consumers expect greater levels of personalization from their finance-related mobile apps than what they receive today. The best PFM can provide hyper-personalized financial insights that enable consumers to take action to better manage their money.  

Billy has some words of advice on how financial providers can get PFM right.

2. Leverage Data for Personalized Financial Experiences

With every transaction, consumers tell you a story about their greatest financial needs. And, as a provider, it’s up to you to make sense of this data and drive financial wellness.

Many financial providers have concerns that using data too much can make consumers uncomfortable. But, the research says otherwise. In fact, consumers actually expect providers to leverage their data and would be willing to give their provider access to even more data if it could improve their financial experience.

Financial providers have the opportunity to make the most of consumer-permissioned data to drive better outcomes. It’s a powerful resource for personalizing the financial experience and promoting financial wellness for consumers. Watch to see how providers can make the most of consumer-permissioned financial data.

3. Become a Trusted Financial Partner

When it comes to achieving financial wellness, consumers need more than financial providers. They need financial partners. When providers become partners, they take more of an active role in their consumers’ financial lives. 

In practice, this can mean more personalized and actionable financial advice. In 2025, J.D. Power found that 26% of bank customers say they are “very interested” in receiving bank advice or guidance — up from just 19% in 2021. And, 36% of consumers under 40 are seeking financial advice from their banks. 

Consumer financial needs go deep. Because of this, they want more than generic financial help. Instead of marketing to an entire generation, true financial partners will market to the individual with personalized offers based on consumers’ unique financial situations. These personalized insights may look like direct financial advice into how consumers can save or spend better, which can drive financial wellness. 

Becoming a trusted financial partner is a process that providers don’t need to do alone. As Billy said, “It takes effort, innovation, and data-driven insights to become a true financial partner for consumers in their lives.” When financial providers put in the work to build this trust as financial partners, they will push their customers to a future of financial health.