NatWest, Nationwide & HSBC join payments inclusion coalition

NatWest, Nationwide and HSBC will join CFIT's Financial Inclusion Coalition, which is developing a supported payments framework for people who need help managing everyday money.

The coalition brings together banks, technology providers, regulators, charities, government and people with lived experience. Its work focuses on customers who may need support with day-to-day payments but do not require formal legal arrangements such as Power of Attorney or deputyship.

Current banking arrangements often leave these customers with limited options. In practice, some customers and their supporters turn to informal methods such as sharing cards, PINs or online banking credentials.

Closing a gap

The proposed framework is designed to sit between full financial independence and formal legal control. It would allow a trusted third party to help with payments while the customer keeps as much choice and control as possible.

The initiative builds on more than two years of work led by Project Nemo, a not-for-profit group that began by focusing on disability inclusion in financial services before broadening into a wider industry effort. Research led by Nationwide identified what participants described as a significant gap in support for people who need help managing money.

That earlier work also drew attention from policymakers. HM Treasury's Financial Inclusion Strategy referred to Project Nemo's work on barriers faced by disabled consumers, and the government later gave CFIT funding to take the project forward.

Backing from large banks gives the coalition a stronger base as it moves from identifying the issue to designing a workable model. The group is now seeking to establish how supported payments could operate safely in practice for customers, supporters and financial institutions.

Next phase

In the next stage, coalition members will carry out focused sprints to develop a trust and governance framework and test parts of the supported payments model. Areas under examination include digital identity verification and ways to assess whether a customer can use the service.

People with lived experience are expected to take part directly in designing and testing the customer journey. The initial work is centred on adults with a learning disability, reflecting research already undertaken by Project Nemo and its partners, although the model may have wider use for people with dementia, acquired brain injuries, fluctuating mental health conditions and some neurodivergent people.

The first phase of the programme is also expected to examine how someone could appoint a trusted third party without using a formal legal mechanism. This includes consent and permissioning models, customer safeguards, questions of responsibility and liability, and the level of transparency and auditability banks and other providers need.

Another strand will focus on proof of concept and pilot development. The coalition plans to test supported payment journeys in practical settings and gather feedback from consumers, carers and supporters, while assessing how workable the model would be for financial institutions.

Industry backing

CFIT was created following the Kalifa Review of UK fintech and has previously led national coalitions on open finance, digital company identity, small business access to finance and open property. The organisation uses a coalition model that brings together industry, regulators and government to address structural issues in financial services.

The supported payments project adds a social inclusion dimension to that approach. It addresses an area of retail banking where existing products and legal structures do not always meet the needs of people who require occasional or limited assistance rather than full delegation of financial control.

For banks, the issue raises operational and conduct questions as well as inclusion concerns. A formal framework could provide a route away from unofficial arrangements that expose customers and supporters to risk and leave providers dealing with activity outside established processes.

"For too many people, getting help to manage their money still means giving up more control than they should have to. Tackling that challenge requires coordinated action across the industry. CFIT is here to do exactly that: marshal the expertise, commitment and resources needed to move beyond recognising the problem to developing and testing practical solutions that deliver meaningful change," said Anna Wallace, Chief Executive Officer of CFIT.