NEW YORK -- Credit unions wanting to make more inroads among low-and idle-income customers must help them overcome anxiety about money and general distrust of financial institutions.

That's the conclusion of those who conducted an extensive research study of those consumers, under the sponsorship of the Filene Research Institute and Doorway to Dreams Fund.

Other obstacles include: savings is not a lesson learned in childhood for many people in that demographic; many people equate spending less with savings, even though the two are different; many of these consumers see their financial goals as unattainable because of problems in their lives and because financial institutions are often unhelpful.

Nick Maynard, the fund's director of innovation and new product development, and Maya Bourdeau, a market researcher who supervised the study, discussed the results during a session this morning at the Credit Union Conference & Expo.

Credit unions can overcome these obstacles by emphasizing that they understand consumers' concerns and have an approach to problem solving that is empathetic and helpful, Maynard and Bourdeau said.