Evidence from behavioral economists, researchers who study the psychology behind economic decision making, has been applied before to everything from getting people to become organ donors to helping them reduce water use.

But now, its helping people make better financial decisions and save more money. And increasingly major financial companies are using it to help consumers get a better fiscal foothold.

Josh Wright, executive director of Ideas42, a nonprofit consulting firm that works with companies to apply research from behavioral science, says that hes seen a shift in the finance industry with firms putting more emphasis on encouraging smarter financial decisions.

A lot of these concepts are now being used by financial institutions to start to think about designing products that are better for people, Wright said. And this is particularly true for people on the lower end of the income spectrum.

Wright cites American Express as one such company. In 2012, the company partnered with Walmart to launch Bluebird, a prepaid card aimed at consumers who dont use traditional banks. With Bluebird, users can pay bills, load cash at Walmart and even receive paychecks using direct deposit.

Notably, though, Bluebird lets users set up a savings account within the card just one example of a small tweak companies are making to help generate more responsible behavior, Wright said.

And in the next several months, Ideas42, which has been working with American Express, will be helping conduct studies with the companys Serve prepaid card to see how it can influence consumer behavior.

Well actually be able to see if it helps people, Wright said.

JP Morgan Chase is also hoping to use behavioral economics to help improve peoples financial behavior.

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Can you be nudged into saving money? Some companies are banking on it