This year
pfeg(
Personal Finance Education Group) will be at all three party conferences with fringe events guaranteed to generate a healthy level of discussion. In an age where young people are encountering money earlier and earlier, we want to kick-start a long overdue debate – how can we as a society ensure an ethical approach to financial products and services for the under 25s?
The government is taking several concrete steps as part of HM Treasury’s commitment to make it easier for people to access and use financial services. These include providing free, unbiased and independent money management advice through the government-backed, industry-funded Money Advice Service, and giving support to the Sergeant Review, an industry-led initiative aimed at developing a suite of simplified savings and protection products.
However, there is no policy currently addressing the needs of young people – amongst whom in the 21st century, there is an increasing demand for access to financial services. At present, many high street banks offer current accounts to children from the age of 11 years old, with one account available from the age of just seven. It is possible for young people to access a debit card at 11, a cheque book at 16 and from the same age, take responsibility for their own savings account. Even more pertinent to this debate is the growing use of smartphones, tablets and apps by young people and the associated exposure this gives them to money and financial decisions.
These trends are among the most important driving factors behind the long-running campaign for financial education in schools, led by the
All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education for Young People(chaired by Justin Tomlinson MP), pfeg and MoneySavingExpert.com’s Martin Lewis. This year, the campaign has been successful in securing a place for personal finance in the new draft National Curriculum for secondary schools in England – a significant leap forward in preparing future generations of young people for the financial decisions they will face.
Financial education is a major part of the solution to the difficulties that young people face in negotiating the world of personal finance – but there remain several questions that need to be asked about how we can provide ethical financial services to meet increasing demand from young people, including;
• What advice and help should be provided by the financial services industry when a young person enters into a contract for a financial product?
• What policies or guidance should be put in place by the government to ensure young people are equipped to make decisions around financial products?
• What policies or guidance should be put in place by the government and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to safeguard young people when entering into agreements with financial services organisations?
These questions and many others in this area are increasingly relevant to the national debate around financial capability, and so it is timely that they will be at the centre of our discussions at Party Conference. We will be joined by Anthony Browne, chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association, Seyi Obakin, chief executive of Centrepoint and other speakers offering their unique perspectives on this increasingly important area.
If you are attending one or more Party conference, I hope to see you at our open events and if not, please do follow the debate online. We will be reporting all three discussions throughout party conference season on the
pfegblog at
www.pfeg.org/blogand live-tweeting each debate from
@pfeg_orgwith the hashtags #banking #youngpeople
pfeg’s fringe events ‘Banking for Young People: Financial inclusion or exploitation?’ will be held on the following;
• Liberal Democrat Party conference – Tuesday 17th September, Picasso 2, Campanile Hotel, 07:45 – 09:00
• Labour Party conference – Tuesday 24th September, Youth Zone, The Brighton Centre, 08:00 – 09:15
• Conservative Party conference – Tuesday 1st October, Central 6, Manchester Central, Tuesday 1st October, 08:00 – 09:15
For more information contact Kat Hodgkinson on
kat.hodgkinson@pfeg.org