I’m pleased to see that the Financial Inclusion Commission is in the news and in the FT (free link) for giving the Chancellor a well-aimed “nudge” on the plight of many people who are struggling to pay insurance bills.
As Terry Pullinger said at a recent event ,
“the great and the good are only great and good if they are accountable for ordinary people’s well-being”
The Financial inclusion commission count among them some very senior people and I was pleased that one of them was there to hear what Terry had to say.
This is what the Commission is saying today. It is pointing to areas of the financial markets where many people don’t get a look-in.
“there are many other financial services where increasing access and participation would support hard-pressed families and boost the economy.”
The Council is among many signatories of a letter to Rachel Reeves calling on the Government to make good its promise to include more people in essential services such as banking, home and car insurance. I was pleased to see Charles Randell speaking to the FT in forthright terms.
Randell said the regulator could focus more on financial inclusion by looking at whether its rules are pushing people out of certain markets by making the barriers too high for firms to offer services to certain types of customers.
As a practical next step the letter added that making financial inclusion a priority for the FCA would enable it to seek additional powers to tackle problems in this area and to identify what roles others can play.
This is not about finger-pointing but recognising that many people simply don’t get served by financial services. The Financial Inclusion Commission’s website makes the point infographically
Randell, formerly Chair of the FCA pointed to recent comments
FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi emphasised the importance of financial inclusion in boosting the UK’s growth and competitiveness in a speech last month.
Randell called for more of the same.
I needn’t labour the point. We have a fully inclusive state pension in this country but we could do much more with private pensions , including those who find it hard to save for the long-term in shorter term sidecar savings.
Many of the pension schemes we run require those who want to take their money and spend it to get help from financial advisers or rely on the hard-pressed MaPS. We need to do more to provide pensions for people which are done for them – offering VFM to even the smallest pots.
We have a great financial services industry but it could be the better for including those who find it hard to use.
