What’s the point of banking without financial wellness?

When the COVID-19 virus swept the globe in early 2020, it showed us that the things we took for granted could be taken away in an instant. For millions of people, this meant losing their jobs, falling behind on mortgage payments, or being unable to afford everything from school tuition to basic healthcare.

As the months in lockdown continued to drag on, many found themselves without a financial safety net. As is often the case, this group was disproportionately made up of young people, women, and members of disenfranchised groups, including minority ethnic communities and migrants. And while we’ve turned a corner in our response to Covid, millions remain buried under mountains of debt, without the financial knowledge to dig their way out.

That’s why the Financial Times established its first-ever charity, the Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign (FT FLIC) – to provide free and engaging financial content to those who need it most. This includes digital lessons, videos, and other resources that make it easier to understand the basics of financial education.

With this campaign, the Financial Times made a powerful statement: that everyone should be able to access the information they need to take control of their own financial wellbeing.

This statement resonates deeply with all of us at Backbase. We share the belief that no one should have to deal with the trauma of financial insecurity, least of all the more vulnerable among us. Behind our Engagement Banking mission is a desire to help financial institutions better serve their customers and members, regardless of socioeconomic status. At all times, we focus on making banking easier, better, and more accessible.

We’re making great strides towards that goal every day, with the help of millions across the world, but there’s still a long way to go. That’s why we’re proud to be a supporter of FLIC.

We always knew that we wanted to donate the proceeds of our book, The Engagement Banking Revolution, but we had to select a charity that genuinely aligned with our vision for the future of banking. Luckily, FLIC had already laid the groundwork for us to make a huge difference, together. In fact, in their Year One Impact Report, the group shared that they’d raised £471,344, which funded everything from lessons about budgeting to webinars on bridging the gender pay gap.

We’re proud to have contributed to this worthy cause, and we’ll continue to do so alongside our other dedicated efforts to make banking better for people across the world.

Financial inclusion is an issue that lies at the core of what we do. That’s why we designed the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform (EBP) to help financial institutions of all sizes orchestrate frictionless journeys across all touchpoints, at every stage of the customer lifecycle. This allows banks and credit unions to genuinely engage with their customers and members, giving them the financial tools they need, when they need them.

The powerful capabilities of our EBP make it easy to create the personalized experiences that customers deserve. This allows financial institutions to take huge strides towards democratizing banking, making it simple – and even enjoyable – to manage finances.

This is particularly valuable when it comes to communities that are unbanked or historically underserved. Take, for example, the work we’ve done alongside our partner, Banco de la Nación del Perú (BNP).

Millions of unbanked Peruvians in the most remote regions of the country lacked the essential banking services needed to access COVID-19 relief funds. In order to better serve these vulnerable communities, BNP needed a new digital platform that would be accessible to everyone, regardless of location or technological ability.

With our help, BNP met the financial needs of some of the most vulnerable Peruvians during the pandemic, launching the Cuenta DNI flagship product nationwide.

This allowed them to:

• Help 1.87 million people open their first-ever bank account

• Give millions of Peruvians digital access to valuable COVID-19 relief funds

• Reduce the financial inclusivity gap in the country by roughly 8%

• Increase customer satisfaction by 72%

At Backbase, we believe in projects like this that allow us to make an impact, as it’s a core part of our vision for the future of finance. We imagine a world where everyone has open access to the resources they need to effortlessly control their personal financial wellness, and we’re working every day to make it a reality. That’s why we’ll continue to support FLIC and financial institutions around the world as we strive to help the world achieve financial wellness, together.

If you’d like to support FLIC, you can make a one-time or recurring donation here. And feel free to reach out to us if you’re interested in finding out more about how you can give your customers the financial tools they need and want with our fully integrated, productized platform banking solution.