Helen Child discusses the importance Financial Inclusion with Acquisition International

1. www.acquisition-intl.com
20 Acquisition International - May 2015
Prepaid card industry expert Helen Child believes the re-elected Conservative
government should drive change to ensure basic affordable financial services
are available to all.
Financial Inclusion
Should Be High on the
Conservatives' Agenda
About Helen Child
Helen Child is the founder and former CEO of the
UK’s first E Money License Issuer to be awarded
Prepaid Issuing status by both MasterCard & Visa.
Helen is the leading consultant at Striding Edge
and heads an experienced team of prepaid card
and payments experts. Through her Striding Edge
consultancy, Helen provides strategic and practical
support to banks and organisations that are seeking
to develop or increase their footprint in the
European market.
She is a published author and industry speaker.
A founding member of the Prepaid International
Forum; the global, not for profit prepaid card industry
forum. She’s proudly served as a Council Member of
Lancaster University.
Currently, millions of adults across Britain are
financially excluded. According to the Financial
Inclusion Commission, nearly two million people
across the UK do not have a bank account, up to
8.8 million are over-indebted and 1 in 4 have a
poor credit rating.
Prior to losing his seat in the House of Commons,
Vince Cable emphasised the need for banks to
continue serving their local community, suggesting
that Post Offices must once again become the heart
of the community by extending their banking services
for people who rely on face-to-face banking.
Newly appointed Secretary of State for Business Sajid
Javid has already set about changing business law,
but will this include financial inclusion?
Helen explains: “All UK households should
have access to a full range of financial services,
including secure, safe and regulated banking. Some
members of our society have no access to banking
institutions, a basic bank account or the facilities to
adopt online banking.
“The UK banking sector has a responsibility to
provide some form of basic bank account to every
individual, whatever their situation and is vital
to easing poverty. A financially inclusive UK and
promotion of wider trust in the banking sector should
therefore be key objectives for the
incoming government.”
Prepaid programmes such as APS CashPlus and The
Change Account can offer an alternative solution to
traditional banking. The Change Account provides
a transactional account for those that don’t have
the ability to open a traditional bank account. Its
budgeting tools and lack of an overdraft facility can
help protect people from entering into debt.
Since 2007, there has been a 380% rise in the
selection of prepaid card products with 2%
of prepaid cards being used in the UK as an
alternative to bank accounts.
Helen comments: “Prepaid cards such as the
APS CashPlus program in effect offer a complete
‘quasi-banking’ solution without the risk of
overspending and creating debt. They can also
provide a useful credit repair solution and assist
those who are underserved, on the basis that there
are no credit checks.”
Helen Child, Leading Consultant at
Striding Edge.