Harnessing Fintech Innovation to Bridge Scotland's Financial Inclusion Gap

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending a thought-provoking panel discussion at Edinburgh Futures Institute, where industry leaders explored how Scotland's thriving fintech sector can tackle one of our most pressing social challenges - financial inclusion. The stark reality is that approximately one in five adults in Scotland currently lack access to basic banking services, with many more excluded from affordable credit and essential financial services. This challenge disproportionately affects our most vulnerable communities, particularly those from ethnic minority backgrounds, single-parent households, and low-income families. However, what emerged from the discussion, led by MoneymatiX CEO Tynah Matembe, was a sense of genuine optimism about Scotland's unique position to address this challenge.

Opening the panel at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, The Rt Hon. the Lord Mayor Alastair King emphasised how financial inclusion represents a critical intersection between innovation and social responsibility. He highlighted the newly forged partnership between the City of London Corporation and the Scottish Government. This collaboration marks a significant commitment to prioritising fair and affordable financial services, recognising that true economic growth can only be achieved when all members of society have access to essential banking services. The Lord Mayor's presence in Edinburgh underscored the City of London's dedication to supporting Scotland's fintech sector. His emphasis on regulatory reform and resetting investment risk appetite particularly resonated, suggesting that solving financial inclusion challenges requires both technological innovation and systemic change in how we approach financial services delivery. He also sought to highlight that this issue is one which has also been considered through his predecessors.

Tynah Matembe DEEU , CEO of MoneyMatiX: Inclusive Financial Education , brought a powerful perspective to the discussion, grounding the conversation in the practical realities of financial exclusion. Drawing from her personal experience, both being financially excluded and leading a financial inclusion organisation, she illustrated how the barriers to financial services extend far beyond simple account access. Through MoneyMatiX's work providing inclusive financial education and expert guidance, she has witnessed first-hand how financial exclusion creates a complex web of challenges for individuals and communities. She particularly emphasised the importance of combining technological innovation with practical financial education, noting that effective solutions must address both access to services and the knowledge to use them effectively. One key point centred on remembering the lack of shared experience and that understanding exclusion required engaging a multitude of voices rather than seeking to aggregate exclusion.

Kirsty McKenna , Innovation Programme Manager at FinTech Scotland , brought crucial insights from the frontline of fintech innovation to the discussion. Her recent work delivering the FCA/FinTech Scotland Financial Inclusion TechSprint illuminated how targeted innovation challenges can catalyse practical solutions for financial inclusion. McKenna shared compelling examples from these initiatives, demonstrating how bringing together regulators, innovators, and financial institutions creates an environment where meaningful solutions can emerge. The Innovation Challenge partnership with Smart Data Foundry proved particularly significant, as it showed how data-driven approaches could identify and address specific barriers to financial inclusion. Kirsty explained how these collaborative programmes have helped identify gaps in current financial services provision while simultaneously fostering the development of targeted solutions. Her work exemplifies the vital role that structured innovation programmes play in bridging the gap between technological capability and social need, ensuring that Scotland's fintech sector develops solutions that are both innovative and inclusive. I have seen first hand the interventions delivered, including the recent Challenge Call exploring Consumer Duty in financial services. Through these initiatives, she has helped create a framework where technical innovation is consistently guided by real-world needs and challenges.

Finally we heard from David Tracy , Head of Data Product at Smart Data Foundry , who offered a fascinating perspective on how data innovation can transform our understanding and approach to financial inclusion. His work leading the development of the Aizle synthetic data platform represents a significant breakthrough in how we can safely analyse and understand patterns of financial exclusion. Tracey explained how Smart Data Foundry's collaboration with government institutions, banks, fintechs, and academics has created a unique ecosystem where de-identified financial data can be used to drive meaningful change. Through making private sector financial data both accessible and discoverable, his team helps policy makers and service providers understand the complex drivers behind financial exclusion. What makes this approach particularly powerful is its ability to reveal previously hidden patterns and connections in financial behaviour, allowing for more targeted and effective interventions. David demonstrated how synthetic data can be used to test and validate new financial products and services before they reach the market, ensuring they truly meet the needs of financially excluded populations. His contribution highlighted how sophisticated data analysis, when properly governed and ethically managed, can become a powerful tool for social good, helping to ensure that financial innovation is guided by evidence rather than assumption.

The question and answer session that followed revealed the deep interconnection between financial inclusion and Scotland's broader societal goals. A particularly engaging discussion emerged around my question on the alignment of fintech innovation with Scotland's focus on Wellbeing and Community Wealth Building legislation, set to transform how we measure economic success beyond traditional metrics.

Tynah noted that financial inclusion sits at the heart of community wealth building, emphasising how access to fair financial services directly impacts local economic resilience. She emphasised that when individuals gain access to appropriate financial services, they're better positioned to participate in and contribute to their local economic ecosystem. David Tracey offered an interesting data perspective, explaining how Smart Data Foundry's research reveals clear correlations between financial inclusion and community wellbeing indicators. His insights demonstrated how data analytics can help track the impact of financial inclusion initiatives on broader community wealth building objectives. Kirsty McKenna highlighted how FinTech Scotland's innovation programmes are increasingly incorporating wellbeing metrics into their success criteria, ensuring that technological solutions deliver not just financial returns but meaningful community benefits.

The discussion underscored a crucial point: Scotland's approach to financial inclusion through fintech innovation isn't just about providing access to financial services - it's about contributing to a broader vision of community wealth and wellbeing. This alignment between financial innovation and social legislation creates a unique environment where technological advancement serves the dual purpose of business growth and community development. Perhaps fitting to see these event hosted in the Edinburgh Futures Institute

The Road Forward

As someone working in economic development, I left the session with renewed conviction about Scotland's potential to lead in inclusive fintech innovation. The combination of our technological capabilities, social awareness, and collaborative approach positions us uniquely to create meaningful change. However, success will require sustained commitment from all stakeholders - government, industry, and community organisations. The path forward requires continued support to grow of our fintech sector while ensuring it maintains its focus on inclusive innovation. Second, we need to strengthen the connections between grassroots organisations and technology providers. The panel emphasised the importance of "tapping into other organisations properly working grassroots" to ensure solutions are grounded in real community needs. This includes adopting a "mobile first" approach, recognising that digital inclusion doesn't always mean complex solutions. Third, we must continue to learn from user stories and experiences. As discussed in the panel, better learning from stories of financial exclusion can inform more effective solutions. This human-centred approach to innovation ensures that technological solutions address real rather than perceived needs.

The challenge now is to ensure these innovations reach and genuinely serve those who need them most, while maintaining the trust and understanding of all users. As we continue this journey, we must remember that financial inclusion isn't just about access to services - it's about creating the conditions for all members of our society to participate fully in our economic life.

The finance of inclusion

In Edinburgh's winter light, voices gather at the Futures Institute - each carrying stories of those left behind, one-fifth of Scotland's adults, standing at closed digital doors.

The Lord Mayor speaks of unleashed growth, where Tynah knows the weight of exclusion, how it settles like Scottish mist on single parents, minority communities, making daily life a steeper climb. Through streams of data, David weaves synthetic patterns, mapping paths through financial darkness, while Kirsty builds innovation bridges, spanning the gap between capability and need.

Scotland's fintech heart beats with purpose, not just for profit's familiar rhythm but for the pulse of community wealth, for wellbeing beyond the ledger's lines.

In trust we build, code by careful code, remembering always that behind each digital solution breathes a human story, waiting to be heard, waiting to be changed.

Between the zeros and ones of banking's binary world, we seek a new mathematics of inclusion, where every account opened is a door unlocked, where every mobile app becomes a key to possibility, and where success is measured through a count of collaboration and community.

Here, carved in stone above us, ancient words echo through digital age: "I was a stranger and you took me in" - A testament to the heart, where innovation meets compassion, where fintech builds not walls but welcome, where strangers seek the simple dignity of having somewhere to belong, somewhere to bank, somewhere to build their Scottish dreams.