Industry needs to help grow financial inclusion in Scotland

Sandy Begbie, SFE, at Home Game 4 from The Lang Cat | Supplied

Begbie was speaking at the recent The Lang Cat consultancy’s Home Game 4 event in Edinburgh, during the ‘State of the Scottish Nation: What next for financial services?’ session.

He explained the extent of the disparity when it comes to accessing financial services. He said at least 100,000 people in Scotland don’t have access to a bank account. He described this as a “complex issue” that has a knock on effect on such areas as employment. “Everyone should have access to a bank account,” he added.

He said that next year the SFE will be working with the likes of the third sector, banks and the Financial Conduct Authority to address the problem of having a large “unbanked population” in Scotland.

During the discussion on the day, Alastair Ross, assistant director, head of public policy (Scotland, Wales & NI) at the Association of British Insurers, said the industry has to get better at explaining financial issues and continue to become “more creative and diverse”.

In another session on ‘Advice: The next generation’, Gee Foottit of St James’s Place (SJP) Academy said that in terms of diversity the sector has an “image hangover from the past” that has to be addressed. She added: “You don’t need to wear a suit to be a financial adviser.” And she said that 60 per cent of their academy intake has no financial services experience and there is no upper age limit.

The topics of consolidation in the financial advice sector and the pros and cons of bigger and smaller firms were also discussed at the event.

Gordon Wilson, managing director of Carbon Financial, said important factors to consider are values, people and how a business is run, rather than just size. And Jo Wall of Joyful Wealth described financial planning for a client as “being able to hold their hand during big decisions”.