Policy paper

Summary of Financial Inclusion Policy Forum meeting November 2020

Published 18 December 2020

© Crown copyright 2020

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summary-of-financial-inclusion-policy-forum-meeting-november-2020/summary-of-financial-inclusion-policy-forum-meeting-november-2020

The Financial Inclusion Policy Forum brings together leaders on financial inclusion to ensure collaboration across Government and with the sector. The Forum is co-chaired by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury (EST) and the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion. The Forum’s sixth meeting was held on 23 November 2020 as a video call.

1. Agenda items of the sixth meeting included:

  • An update from the EST on Forum membership;
  • A presentation of Fair4AllFinance’s (F4AF) latest strategy, led by Richard Collier-Keywood (chair) and guest speaker Sacha Romanovitch (CEO);
  • An overview of the FCA review of change and innovation in the unsecured credit market (Woolard Review), led by guest speaker Christopher Woolard;
  • A discussion about access to credit for low-income consumers.

2. Key themes of discussion included:

  • F4AF presented their strategic priorities, latest work on supporting people in financially vulnerable circumstances and the next steps on their work on credit data sharing.
  • Forum members discussed how new information technology – including digital identification and open banking – can be used to improve access to financial products and services.
  • The overview of the Woolard Review stimulated a discussion about the drivers of borrowing, and the risks and opportunities associated with unregulated credit products.
  • Forum members identified ways of helping low-income consumers to access credit: working with credit unions to support long-term sustainability; improving collaboration and data sharing across the financial services sector; integrating access to credit with financial guidance models.

The next forum meeting is expected to take place in Spring 2021.

Back to top