The financial services sector has a key role to play in driving growth across the UK economy, so we welcome the government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy and the opportunity to give evidence.

We’re pleased that the Call for Evidence highlights the government’s plans to address barriers to financial inclusion as one of its priorities for financial services policy. We believe that improving financial inclusion is a key driver of growth and should have a more explicit role in the strategy.

We know that financial exclusion is a barrier to wellbeing, opportunity and growth. The current system isn’t working for everyone, leaving millions of people financially excluded and unable to turn to safety nets such as credit, savings and insurance. People without a buffer provided by savings, insurance or access to affordable credit are less able to withstand life’s ups and downs and have to choose between going without essentials, such as food and heating, or turning to high-cost credit or illegal money lenders.

This has a huge impact on people’s physical and mental health, can lead to people being trapped in long term problem debt, and less able to contribute to the economy. Financial exclusion also means that millions of people are underserved and left out of large parts of the market. Addressing these issues will improve the lives of millions of people, put money into the real economy and unlock growth and opportunity across the country.  

The strategy sets out that the government seeks to achieve sustainable, inclusive growth. Financial inclusion – ensuring more people across the country have access to fair and appropriate financial products and services – is at the heart of what inclusive growth means for the financial services sector. Since publication of this Call for Evidence, the government has announced a new Financial Inclusion Committee, to advise the government on the development of a Financial Inclusion Strategy centred around this goal. We think it’s important that these strategies are coordinated and mutually supportive.

We would therefore like to see a greater focus on financial inclusion in the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy as a key driver and opportunity for growth. We also support a focus on a regulatory environment that provides the clarity and certainty firms need to innovate and serve more excluded customers.