Financial Inclusion Strategy: Promising steps forward, but accountability will be key

Today’s launch of the new UK Financial Inclusion Strategy marks an important milestone. It brings together government, regulators, industry and the third sector with a shared aim: ensuring that everyone can access the financial products and services they need. And crucially, it recognises the links between money and mental health problems as a cross-cutting theme throughout – vital recognition of this devastating cycle.

As someone who sat on the Financial Inclusion Committee that helped shape this strategy, I’m pleased to see many of the priorities we’ve long championed at the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute reflected in its pages. For the millions of people who live with both money and mental health problems, the commitments announced today could – if implemented well – make a real difference.

But while there’s plenty to welcome, there’s also a real risk that the strategy won’t meet our collective ambition, as delivery is left largely in the hands of the financial services industry, without strong accountability for results.

Perhaps the most encouraging announcement for people with mental health problems or disabilities is the creation of an Inclusive Design Working Group, led by UK Finance. This new body will bring together banks, insurers, and consumer organisations, including us, to look at how financial products can be made more accessible to people with diverse needs, including those with mental health problems.

It’s heartening to see explicit recognition of tools like carers’ cards, which could make a real difference for people who rely on friends or family to help manage their money. The commitment to report to the Treasury every six months is also welcome.

However, the group’s impact will depend on whether it goes beyond being a forum for sharing best practice with the willing, and instead drives genuine, sector-wide change. The industry is right that it understands its own systems best, but we also know that commercial incentives can sometimes slow progress on accessibility. And we need to reach all providers, including the small, reluctant or poorly resourced – not just the big high street banks who shaped the strategy. For the working group to succeed, it will need clear goals, independent evaluation, and active oversight from both HM Treasury and the FCA.

We’re particularly pleased to see action on travel insurance for people with mental health conditions. The strategy commits the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the FCA and Money and Mental Health to a new working group to build understanding between industry and consumer groups, including on how underwriting decisions are made.

This is a significant step forward – recognition, at last, that people with mental health problems are getting poor outcomes in travel insurance. The next challenge will be ensuring that this work looks not just at how decisions are communicated, but at the data and risk models that underpin them. Without that, people with mental health conditions may continue to face unfair exclusions or inflated premiums.

There’s also positive movement on income protection insurance for groups such as the self-employed – an area we’ve consistently highlighted as a gap in the market. Fair4All Finance will partner with industry to explore new products and improve uptake. To be truly inclusive, though, these products must also be affordable, not just available.

For people already struggling with debt, the strategy brings several welcome developments. The government will review the Debt Fairness Charter in 2026, with the aim of strengthening protections for those who owe money to the public sector – and will expand training for civil servants involved in debt collection to help them better support people with additional needs.

Perhaps most significantly, the government has committed to working with the Northern Ireland Department for Communities to roll out the Breathing Space Scheme, including its mental health crisis element which we secured for England and Wales back in 2018, and that has since been expanded to Scotland. This is a real win for people in Northern Ireland who face problem debt and mental health challenges.

On access to affordable credit, there’s £30 million of dormant assets funding for a Credit Union Transformation Fund, and a pilot of a small-sum personal loan product with high street banks. While not central to our work, these steps could help to prevent people from turning to high-cost credit.

And while the much-discussed payroll savings reforms fall short of the ‘opt-out’ approach some had hoped for, the creation of a national employer coalition may still encourage more people to build a financial buffer.

Taken together, these are sensible, targeted actions – and a result of genuine meaningful collaboration between government, regulators and civil society. There aren’t many big-ticket commitments in the strategy, a lot of working groups, pilots and new processes, which really reflects the fact that we don’t have all the answers yet. And while big announcements are easier to celebrate, there is a case to be made that this sustained, targeted collaboration can yield bigger results over the long term than one big announcement that’s less considered. 

But across the strategy, too much of this work still depends on industry-led initiatives, with few accountability mechanisms to ensure real impact.

We’ve seen before how voluntary efforts can deliver promising pilots but struggle to translate into sustained, system-wide change. The financial services industry absolutely has a vital role to play – but progress must be measured, evaluated, and held to account. Without that, there’s a risk that two years from now, when the government reviews this strategy, the improvements for people facing financial exclusion will be far from transformative.

Overall, this strategy provides a solid foundation. It recognises many of the right problems – from accessibility to fair treatment in debt – and creates space for practical collaboration. The next step must be ensuring that delivery mechanisms are as ambitious as the intentions.

At Money and Mental Health, we’ll continue to work closely with government, regulators and industry to help make these commitments meaningful. If we get this right, the Financial Inclusion Strategy could help build a financial system that genuinely works for everyone – including those of us managing both money and mental health problems.