Hosted by Dr Pål Vik and Andrew Wallace, researchers at Community Finance Solutions at the University of Salford Business School, Innovation in Financial Inclusion centres on radical, innovative interventions, policies and programmes to address financial exclusion, including financial literacy, affordable credit, savings and maximising income. Episodes will launch bi-weekly on a Wednesday and welcome high-profile names in the space to explore issues facing low-income consumers in the current climate, including the reality of managing on a low income, barriers to saving and accessing affordable credit.
Please click below to listen to the series!
Innovation in Financial Inclusion Podcast Trailer
Episode 0 – Introducing Innovation in Financial Inclusion
In the first of a new podcast series focusing on the problems and solutions of promoting financial inclusion in the UK. Andrew and Pål provide an overview of the research unit behind the podcast series Community Finance Solutions (CFS) and spoke with one of the co-founders’ Professor Karl Dayson, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Salford about the origins of CFS, the problems it set out to address, the solutions it aimed to provide, and to hear his reflections on the evolution of financial exclusion and the way ahead. Karl’s interview was recorded on 12th October 2022.
Episode 1 – Reality of managing on a low income
In this episode, Andrew & Pål will be investigating how those on low incomes manage to cover their expenditure, focusing on the challenges and coping strategies used by those managing on a low income. We will be speaking with Dr David Young, a research fellow at Sustainable Housing and Urban Studies Unit at the University of Salford, whose research focuses on social security policy and the experience of income change and insecurity, & Catherine Connors, a service manager in the Welfare rights, debt advice and fairer charging service team at Salford City Council, who’ll be talking about the lived experience of her clients. David’s interview was recorded on 3rd March 2023 & Catherine’s interview was record on 24th February 2023.
Episode 2 – Why don’t people save more?
In this episode, Andrew & Pål will be investigating why people don’t save on a regular basis and the challenges of encouraging a regular savings habit. We will be speaking with James Kelly a relationship manager at the Money & Pensions Service an arms-length body that works to ensure that people have guidance and access to info to help them make effective financial decisions over their lifetime, including pensions guidance, debt advice and money guidance & Matt Bland who is the CEO of Coop Credit Union based in Manchester that provides loans and savings to members and employees of the Coop Group and a range of other coops.
Episode 3 – Problem debts and over-indebtedness
In this episode, Andrew & Pål will be investigating the reasons why people encounter problem debt, why they struggle to overcome it and what remedies there are out there for the overindebted. Andrew & Pal will be joined by Muna Yassin the CEO of Rooted Finance (formerly Fair Money Advice) a London based charity that provides debt advice and money advice support & Helen Webb the National External Partnerships Manager of Christians Against Poverty a charity that provides money and debt advice to tackle poverty across the UK.
Episode 4 – Borrowing among low-income households
In this episode, Andrew & Pål will be investigating the reasons why some low-income households struggle to have access to affordable credit and what ethical alternative there are for them. Andrew & Pal will be joined by Niall Alexander, markets & consumer insight manager at Fair4AllFinance, who has been closely following developments in commercial high-cost credit and affordable credit sector for many years.
Episode 5 – Opt out savings scheme
In this episode, Andrew & Pål will be investigating Opt-out savings schemes, similar to the pension auto-enrolment, under opt out savings schemes, employees are automatically enrolled into the payroll savings scheme unless they opt out. To investigate this further they will be joined by Emma Stockdale, a research lead at Nest Insight which is a public-benefit research and innovation centre that focuses on finding ways to support low- and moderate-income workers to be financially secure, & Roger Shelton, a marketing and business development manager at Transave UK, an employer-based credit union which is piloting an opt-out payroll savings scheme with SUEZ, one of its employer partners.
Episode 6 – Flex My Rent
In this episode, Andrew & Pål will be investigating Flex My Rent which is a rent flexibility scheme that offers eligible residents the opportunity to adjust their monthly rent. To investigate this further they will be joined by Damon Gibbons, CEO of the Centre for Responsible Credit, an independent think tank working to influence and improve the provision and regulation of credit that developed Flex My Rent, & Gemma Glass, Head of Financial & Digital Inclusion at Southern Housing, one the UK’s largest housing associations which has piloted the Flex My Rent scheme in conjunction with the Centre for Responsible Credit.
Episode 7 – No Interest Loans
In this episode, Andrew & Pål will be looking at the use of no-interest loans in financial inclusion. To learn more about this, they spoke with Chris Grover and Sheenagh Murtagh. Chris is a professor in social policy at the University of Lancaster and spoke about the use of no-interest loans in UK welfare policy. Sheenagh is the CEO of South Manchester Credit Union, which has piloted a no-interest loan scheme for low-income consumers with HM Treasury and Fair4allFinance.
Episode 8 – Food Coop
In this episode, Andrew & Pål will be investigating Food Cooperatives. To learn more about this, they spoke with Dr Celia Plender and Yolande Barnsley. Celia is a lecturer at the University of Exeter who has conducted extensive fieldwork on urban, grassroots food coops to understand their policies and responses to social and political changes taking place around them. Yolande is a Food Co-op and Women’s Wellbeing Project Coordinator at St Hilda’s East Community Centre, which sells affordable fruit and veg to local residents in Shoreditch, East London.