Nearly 11 million people across the UK have mental health problems. Many will be experiencing common symptoms such as reduced memory and concentration, low motivation or impulsivity — all of which can result in people facing serious challenges in accessing and using financial services.

For  example, three-quarters of people who have experienced mental health problems have serious  difficulties engaging with at least one common communication channel. Struggles with phone calls are  particularly common, with more than half (54%) of people who have experienced mental health  problems saying they have serious difficulties using the telephone.

But online journeys can be just as challenging. People with mental health problems often have difficulties navigating financial providers’  websites, call centre menus and other sources of information. These problems can be exacerbated by  information overload’ and the complex design of digital channels. Many people with mental health problems struggle to understand information they receive from essential service providers, particularly  when they’re acutely unwell, or when information contains jargon or data that isn’t presented in an accessible way.

Poor mental health can also make carrying out everyday banking tasks an uphill battle. For some people, online banking and card or contactless transactions make managing their finances and  budgets overwhelming when unwell. And while some banks and building societies offer ways that a trusted friend or family member can help  someone stay on top of their finances when experiencing poor mental health, provision of these tools and  products is inconsistent across the sector.

These factors can leave people being effectively locked out from being able to use financial services,  which can have a major impact on their financial wellbeing, and contributes to the fact that people with mental health problems are three and a half times more likely to be in problem debt.

What needs to change?

Building societies and banks can play a vital role in addressing these barriers, by putting inclusive  design at the heart of their services and products and ensuring they meet the needs of people with mental health problems.

A good starting point would be to offer a wider range of communication channels through which to get  in touch, and recording people’s communication preferences, to help them engage on an ongoing basis.

Firms should also consider how they can make communications more supportive and accessible — for  example, by using plain English and signposting to relevant support services where appropriate.

Another key factor is ensuring that the tools and products which can help people with mental health problems manage and engage with their finances are made consistently available across the  sector. Tools such as spending blocks, carers’ cards and third party mandates can be transformative in  helping people manage their spending or get support with financial decision-making — we want them to be made available by all current account providers.

Lots of these steps are actions that firms can take  individually, and Money and Mental Health supports firms to make their services more inclusive through our Mental Health Accessible consultancy programme.

But to drive sector wide change, we want these factors to be at the heart of the government’s forthcoming Financial Inclusion Strategy. In particular, we would like to see the government and financial trade bodies leading the charge to embed inclusive design across the sector, and to develop a ‘core inclusion offer’ of tools and products that  very current account provider can sign up to provide. That will be vital in ensuring the transformative change needed to tackle financial exclusion for the 1 in 4 of us experiencing mental health problems.

Find out more, visit: www.moneyandmentalhealth.org

This article was first published in Society Matters magazine