Financial inclusion is moving up the reward agenda

Twenty years ago, most employers saw pensions as their financial responsibility and everything else as the employee's problem.

A decade ago, many organisations took a similar view of mental wellbeing. Employers recognised it mattered, but it wasn't widely seen as a business issue. Today, few organisations would argue that mental health sits outside the workplace.

Financial wellbeing feels as though it may be approaching a similar tipping point.

That is one of the most interesting themes emerging from discussions around the government's Financial Inclusion Strategy. While the strategy itself focuses on improving access to financial services, savings, affordable credit and debt support, the wider conversation is becoming much bigger than financial products.

Increasingly, financial resilience is being linked to workforce participation, productivity and an individual's ability to remain in work. That matters because it changes how employers think about financial wellbeing.

More than just financial products

At first glance, the Financial Inclusion Strategy looks like a piece of financial services policy. Much of the focus is on helping people access banking, build savings and navigate financial difficulties more effectively. Important goals, certainly. But what stands out is the growing recognition that access alone is not enough.

Most people know saving is a good idea. Most understand that having a financial buffer can make life easier when unexpected costs arise. The challenge is rarely awareness. It's whether people feel financially able to act on that knowledge.

That's why the conversation is increasingly shifting away from products and towards resilience. Policymakers are becoming more interested in what helps people build financial security in practice, rather than simply what services are available to them.

Why reward leaders should take notice

For years, financial wellbeing has often sat within the benefits package. Employers offered support because it was the right thing to do. It helped employees. It complemented broader wellbeing initiatives. But it was rarely viewed as something that could influence workforce strategy.

That position is becoming harder to maintain. Financial stress doesn't stay neatly contained within someone's personal finances. It shows up at work. It affects concentration, decision-making and, in some cases, whether someone feels able to stay in employment at all.

This is why financial wellbeing is increasingly appearing in discussions that have traditionally focused on health, skills and workforce participation.

The conversation is changing from: "Should employers help employees with their finances?" to: "Can organisations afford to ignore the impact financial insecurity has on their workforce?"

That's a very different question.

Saving schemes matter, but confidence matters too

The launch of the National Coalition for Workplace Savings is a good example of this shift. The coalition aims to help more employees build emergency savings through the workplace. Given the number of households with little or no financial buffer, that ambition is both welcome and necessary. But workplace savings also highlight an important reality.

The biggest barrier to saving isn't always access. Many employees already know they should save. They don't need another reminder of the benefits of having an emergency fund. The challenge is that after years of rising housing costs, higher bills and economic uncertainty, saving can feel unrealistic.

That gap between knowing and doing is where many financial wellbeing strategies succeed or fail. Providing a savings product is important. Helping employees develop the confidence to believe saving is possible is equally important.

A familiar pattern is emerging

This is where the parallels with mental wellbeing become difficult to ignore.

The shift didn't happen because mental health suddenly became more important. It happened because employers increasingly understood the impact poor mental health was having on workforce outcomes.

Financial wellbeing appears to be following a similar path. Nobody is suggesting employers will face mandatory financial wellbeing requirements any time soon. But there is growing recognition that financial resilience influences far more than somebody's bank balance.

As policymakers increasingly link financial resilience to employment outcomes, and employers continue to see the effects of financial stress within their own workforces, expectations are likely to evolve.

The question is no longer whether financial wellbeing matters. The debate is increasingly about what role employers should play.

The bigger shift employers shouldn't ignore

The Financial Inclusion Strategy may be a government policy initiative, but its influence could reach far beyond financial services.

The most significant development is not the strategy itself. It is the way financial resilience is increasingly being discussed.

Not as a niche financial issue. Not as a standalone employee benefit. But as something that influences whether people can participate fully in working life.

That is a significant shift in thinking.

And if it continues, financial wellbeing is unlikely to remain on the edge of reward strategy for much longer. It will move much closer to the centre.