Managing your finances and dealing with your bank can sometimes be frustrating and difficult. If you?re struggling with your mental health, these tasks can be even harder. We know that mental health problems can affect our cognitive and psychological functioning. This can include:

• Difficulties with short term memory which could make remembering conversations and agreements with banks challenging
• Increased Impulsivity which can make controlling spending difficult and customers who struggle with this are more likely to be in debt.
• Communication challenges. Our research has shown that 75 per cent of people with mental health problems struggle with at least one form of communication channels - often this is the telephone.
• Low motivation and reduced problem solving which can lead to them putting off essential admin and account management.

The potential impact of these challenges, in terms of creating barriers for people accessing banking services, can be huge both in terms of someone's wellbeing and the financial situation it can contribute to.

A bank's role in becoming more accessible

This is not a niche problem or one that only affects a small minority of customers. One in four people will experience a mental health problem each year, and at present this number is likely to be even higher. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) estimates that that more than 27 million people are currently displaying characteristics of vulnerability following the pandemic.

If banks want to improve the fair treatment of vulnerable customers in order to reflect the FCA's new guidance, then mental health accessibility is a great place to start. We know that many people with mental health problems won't disclose, or won't even acknowledge the condition themselves. So banks can't rely on disclosure, they need to think about accessibility needs and apply that to all their customers. If you can get it right for customers with mental health problems, you?ll be getting it right for most customers.

What should banks do?

At the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute we developed a set of Mental Health Accessible Standards, and we work with banks to help them adopt these in order to best meet the needs of their customers. Some of the key things we?d like to see more banks do include:

Better spending controls: We?d like to see more banks offer control tools like gambling blocks, or the ability to restrict spending at certain times or on certain outlets.

Clear and easy to understand communication: Banks should consider how accessible their language is across all aspects of their service, from website to telephony scripts and letters sent to customers.

Manage customers? expectations: Banks can reduce stress by simply managing expectations. For example, a bank can outline on its website what customers should expect when calling to complete a task and let customers know what the wait time is at contact centres.

Colleagues are trained in the impacts of mental health problems: Banks could really benefit from colleagues across a firm having at least a general understanding of mental health problems and their impacts. There is still too often a tendency to just train frontline staff, but those designing products and services need this training too.

Multi-channel access: We know that many people with mental health problems will struggle to use some form of communication. Ensuring that your services and support functions are accessible across several channels will allow customers to get in touch and use your services in a way that they feel comfortable with.

If you want to know more about mental health accessibility, please email Alice Rose.

This topic is discussed further in our vulnerability workshop: Supporting Customers with Mental Health Difficulties. This course equips staff to recognise common mental health conditions and understand their role in helping customers get the help they need. It introduces tools and strategies which staff can use to manage sensitive conversations appropriately and with confidence.