The UK faces a financial digital divide. We have a soaring fintech industry that puts a vast range of banking services in the pockets of millions of consumers. But as a country with an ageing population, a growing number of people say they are discriminated against and even locked out of financial services.
It's known that older customers prefer to visit bank branches. Yet between 2012 and 2021, the total number of bank and building society branches in the UK fell by 34%, according to the House of Commons Library. Across Europe, people over the age of 55 make up a third of the population, while a fifth are over 65.
Finance Watch is a European non-governmental organisation that conducts research and advocacy on financial regulation. “Older people in Europe face an array of barriers when trying to access basic financial tools that keep them in the financial wilderness,” it states.