Consumer Federation of America Executive Director Stephen Brobeck said the most effective way to increase savings by low- and moderate-income Americans would be for regulators to put pressure on banks.

Brobeck said a good idea would be to expand the Community Reinvestment Act so banks would be required to disclose savings by lower-income customers and how they market to them.

For years, Brobeck has spearheaded America Saves, a Consumer Federation effort to increase asset building among low- and moderate-income households.

His comments came after a CFA Financial Services Conference roundtable late last week on how to boost savings among the less well off, particularly among the young.

A major problem with payroll deduction plans for these consumers is the programs are boring, said Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund Senior Innovation Director Nick Maynard.

“The big risk in automatic deduction plans, no one ever engages or sign ups,” said Maynard.

He noted an employer told him the average worker at the business spends 7 minutes a year with the company’s retirement savings portal.

By contrast, he said consumers typically stay for 40 minutes with a video game that his nonprofit developed for the Social Security Administration to stimulate retirement savings.

Maynard said D2D wants to make saving money as easy spending money on Amazon.com.

A year-old start-up called Even.com is trying to engage the lower-income young by focusing on savings as a means to an end.

The company has an app that tells individual customers with widely varying income when their paycheck is going to exceed the average and lets the customer put the difference into a savings account to use when the next low pay paycheck comes around or to save for a goal.

Maynard said another approach that shows promise is prize-linked savings: including a lottery to boost excitement, used in 22 countries and the aim of legislation in 12 states.

Even.com co-founder Quiten Farmer said the prototypical customer is a barista at a coffee shop who sometimes works 25 hours a week and at other times, 35 hours.

He said the aim is to even out their pay and then make them feel comfortable on how their average pay stacks up against their typical living expenses so they can put money away.

“In most cases, the goal is to pay off student debt or credit-card debt. Retirement savings is not on the radar for any of them,” said Farmer.

Usually the employer pays for the service. When a worker does, the fee is $3 a week.

To promote savings among the young requires the realization that savings and borrowing are happening for most consumers at the same time, said Ryan Falvey, Financial Solutions lab director for the Center for Financial Services Innovation.