IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Money and Mental Health response to Financial Inclusion Strategy
5 November 2025
The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute responds to the government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy
Today (Wednesday 5 September) the government has published its Financial Inclusion Strategy.
Helen Undy, Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, is a member of the government’s Financial Inclusion Committee. The Committee was asked to “develop, coordinate and implement interventions to support financial inclusion in the UK, and advise the UK Government on the development of its financial inclusion strategy”, focusing on issues such as insurance; problem debt; and digital inclusion and access to banking services. (1)
Mental health was a cross-cutting theme for the Committee to consider, alongside accessibility and economic abuse. (2)
Helen Undy, Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute and member of the Financial Inclusion Committee, said:
“The Minister has said she wants a strategy that will ‘transform’ financial wellbeing and ‘open up access to financial services’. (3) And it’s very welcome that the new strategy includes support for people with mental health problems as a central theme, which is an important recognition of the enormous impact that mental health problems can have on our money – and of our work on these issues over the last ten years.
“The strategy contains some really welcome commitments on improving the way the travel insurance market works for people with mental health problems, and making services like banking more accessible and safer for people who might struggle to make a phone call, control their spending or understand complex information. We’re delighted that our work in these areas is having such an impact, and look forward to working with government and industry to deliver the change that’s needed.
“But unfortunately, the jury is out on whether the measures announced today will ultimately add up to a ‘transformative’ programme of change for people with mental health problems, because too much of this strategy relies on the goodwill of the financial services industry. History shows that, while this might produce pockets of good practice, leaving the industry to lead delivery – without clear consequences if change doesn’t happen – is unlikely to result in widespread improvements for those who need them most.
“To truly open up access to financial services that work for everyone, the government needs to hold the industry’s feet to the fire in the years ahead and use every lever at its disposal to ensure that the strategy delivers real change for those who are most cut out.”
ENDS
Contact:
For enquiries or to set up an interview with a Money and Mental Health spokesperson, please contact Alex Goodfellow, External Affairs Officer at Money and Mental Health, on 07754 446 272 / or [email protected]
Notes to Editors
(1) Financial Inclusion Committee: terms of reference (here).
(2) Financial Inclusion Committee: terms of reference (here).
(3) Comments from Lucy Rigby, The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, in a Westminster Hall Debate on Financial Inclusion on Wednesday 22 October 2025 (here).
About the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute
The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute is an independent charity set up by Martin Lewis, and committed to breaking the link between financial difficulty and mental health problems. We conduct research, develop practical policy solutions and work in partnership with both those providing services and those using them to find what really works. www.moneyandmentalhealth.org