Policy paper

Summary of Financial Inclusion Policy Forum meeting December 2021

Published 19 January 2022

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The Financial Inclusion Policy Forum (“the Forum”) brings together leaders on financial inclusion to ensure collaboration across Government and with the sector. The Forum is co-chaired by the Minister of State (Economic Secretary) and the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion. The Forum’s eighth meeting was held on 6 December 2021 as a video call.

1. Agenda items of the eighth meeting included:

  • Updates and Forum discussion on financial-inclusion related work that HM Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have taken forward recently.

  • A presentation from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) on behalf of the Forum’s subgroup on access to contents insurance, led by Huw Evans (CEO, ABI).

  • A presentation from Chris Pond (CEO, Financial Inclusion Commission) about the Fintech Delivery Panel’s work on financial inclusion and fintech, in particular its recent campaign “FINclusion”.

The two presentations were followed by a discussion with Forum members.

2. Key themes of the discussion included:

  • Under the first agenda item, Ministers noted the publication of the Financial Inclusion Annual Report and provided updates on the key pieces of work the Government has done to support financial inclusion since the last Forum meeting. The highlights they referenced included the pilot of the No-Interest Loan Scheme, the launch of the Breathing Space scheme and the consultation surrounding the regulation of Buy-Now-Pay-Later.

  • The ABI-led subgroup on contents insurance was formed after the last Forum meeting in April 2021. It was given the task to understand the reasons behind low uptake of contents insurance amongst low-income renters. Huw Evans set out the subgroup’s research and key findings.

  • Forum members agreed with the findings that affordability and accessibility are some of the biggest issues for low-income renters and that more work needs to be done in this area including targeted, demand-side focused research and the development of more flexible payment options.

  • Under the second agenda item, the Forum discussed the role of Fintech to tackle financial exclusion. Chris Pond presented the Fintech Delivery Panel’s (FDP) work in this area. This included raising awareness of financial inclusion challenges and spotlighting innovative solutions, as well as delivering results by fostering partnerships and promoting collaboration and creating a national campaign, “FINclusion”.

  • Forum members discussed the importance of collaboration and ways to support innovators in this area.

The next Forum meeting is expected to take place in Spring 2022.

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