MaPS’ strategy follows the 2019 government mandate to provide access to the information and guidance needed by UK citizens to make effective financial decisions over their lifetime.

The strategy establishes five “agendas for change” aiming to achieve the goals by 2030, including:

• Financial Foundations: 6.8 million children and young people getting a meaningful financial education - an increase of 2 million from 2019;
• Nation of savers: 16.7 million working age people who are struggling and squeezed saving regularly - an increase of 2 million;
• Credit counts: 2 million fewer people often using credit to pay for food or bills;
• Better debt advice: 2 million more people getting the debt advice they need; currently only 32% of those who need debt advice access it; and
• Future focus: 28.6 million people understanding enough to plan for their later lives, and during them - an increase of 5 million.

Prior to launching the strategy, MaPS consulted over 1,000 frontline specialists to garner a clear understanding of how individuals are engaging with their money and pensions.

Sir Hector Sants, chair of the Money and Pensions Service comments: “The UK Strategy sets out our ambition to transform financial wellbeing over the next decade.

“The UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing will only be successful for individuals if it is supported by the right products, regulation, services and corporate culture. Achieving the strategy will thus require the support and, in many cases, action by both the private and the public sector.”

Financial Wellbeing has been targeted by fintechs for a number of years, with firms developing tools to help individuals and businesses address their finances in a digitised, customisable fashion.

Further to this, we have seen fintech work to democratise the financial services industry, challenging incumbents to provide competitive products and money-management tools that cater to the specific needs of each consumer. Tully, for example, is a UK-based fintech providing free financial, budgeting and debt advice by leveraging Open Banking and AI technologies, helping users to develop manageable debt repayment plans.

MaPS will be working with leaders and experts across industry sectors to set out the delivery of the goals over the next decade, with tailored plans to be rolled out across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Guy Opperman, minister for pensions and financial inclusion, adds: “The Government wants to make it easy for those who need it most to get help to make confident financial choices. The one-stop-shop Money and Pensions Service’s free, high-quality, impartial information and guidance delivers exactly that.

“Also, it has an important part to play in helping today’s young people become tomorrow’s savvy savers, and the development of groundbreaking digital pensions dashboards which will transform how all of us plan for retirement.”