UK Banking Titans Form Powerful Alliance for Financial Inclusion

NatWest, Nationwide, and HSBC UK have officially confirmed their participation in the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT)‘s Financial Inclusion Coalition, an initiative first announced on October 15, 2026. This coalition is dedicated to developing a groundbreaking Supported Payments framework, designed to establish a legally recognized intermediate solution between complete financial independence and stringent formal arrangements such as Lasting Power of Attorney or deputyship.

The initiative has garnered significant government alignment, underscored by HM Treasury‘s Economic Secretary welcoming the project at the Fintech as a Force for Good conference in London the previous week. This support is a testament to CFIT’s efforts to cultivate strong relationships with the Treasury, especially given its receipt of Treasury funding to advance the project.

The roots of this coalition can be traced back to Project Nemo, a not-for-profit organization co-founded by Joanne Dewar and Kris Foster. For over two years, Project Nemo meticulously built an evidence base highlighting the critical need for disability inclusion within financial services. Through this initiative, Nationwide spearheaded a crucial research publication that pinpointed a structural void in the current system. For individuals with learning disabilities or other conditions necessitating assistance with daily spending, the existing options are either informal and risky workarounds, such as sharing cards and PINs, or disproportionately heavy legal arrangements intended for more severe incapacities.

CFIT formally launched the coalition at Money20/20 Europe in June 2026. The subsequent inclusion of three of the United Kingdom's largest retail banks—NatWest, Nationwide, and HSBC UK—provides the institutional weight essential to transition from foundational research into practical implementation. Anna Wallace, chief executive of CFIT, emphasized the coalition’s objective: “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.”

Throughout the remainder of 2026, coalition participants will execute targeted sprints across two primary workstreams. The first is a Trust and Consent Framework, which will delve into how individuals can appoint a trusted third party to assist with payments without requiring a formal Power of Attorney. This workstream will also address consent and permissioning models, liability considerations, and regulatory alignment. The second workstream involves a proof-of-concept pilot, which may leverage open banking infrastructure to test supported payment journeys in authentic, real-world scenarios. This pilot will directly involve consumers, carers, and financial institutions, with individuals possessing lived experience contributing to the design and testing of the proposed customer journey.

An interim report, outlining the coalition’s initial findings and its governance framework, is anticipated before the end of the year. This report will then inform a subsequent second phase, which will concentrate on building and rigorously testing a minimum viable product for Supported Payments.

This initiative is situated within a broader UK-wide push to enhance the inclusivity of consumer financial services. HM Treasury’s Financial Inclusion Strategy has previously highlighted the barriers faced by disabled consumers. Furthermore, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)‘s Consumer Duty, which became fully effective in 2023, imposes explicit obligations on firms to ensure positive outcomes for customers in vulnerable circumstances. A robust Supported Payments framework would equip banks with a structured, regulated mechanism to fulfill these obligations, thereby reducing their reliance on informal accommodations that can expose both customers and institutions to unnecessary risks.

The role of open banking is a critical aspect to monitor. Utilizing Payment Initiation Services or Account Information Services under the existing PSD2-derived framework in the UK could enable a trusted third party to initiate or oversee payments on behalf of a customer without necessitating full account access. This approach has the potential to resolve several complex consent and liability questions currently being addressed by the coalition. A central question likely to be explored in the interim report is whether this technical path proves sufficient, or if primary legislation will be required to firmly establish the liability framework for trusted third parties.