Improving financial capability for the financially squeezed

Research suggests that as many as 12.7 million people in the UK could be financially squeezed; people who have significant financial commitments but little capacity to cope with sudden changes to their financial circumstances.

Looking beyond the statistics, the human cost of low financial capability is acute. We know that the cognitive load of trying to get control of their money affects peoples’ ability to deal with other challenges in life.

That’s why we launched Open Banking for Good (OB4G), bringing organisations and people together to create and scale solutions around Open Banking that will improve financial capability in the UK.

OB4G was born from the Inclusive Economy Partnership, a collaboration between business, civil society and government departments. At its heart is a big goal: to use Open Banking to solve some of society’s biggest challenges, creating apps and services that improve financial capability for the one in four households who are struggling financially in the UK.