Financial providers have been urged to overhaul how they design products, services and education for young people to reduce the widening gap between traditional financial services and the realities of young people’s lives.
The call has come from the Compassion in Financial Services Hub at the University of Edinburgh’s Futures Institute, in collaboration with Young Scot.
Its research highlighted rapid shifts towards digital money, growing financial pressures with children and teenagers managing money digitally earlier than ever.
{load position hidden2}
Young people encounter spending, saving and financial risk first through gaming environments, which are lightly regulated, the research showed.
When it comes to financial advice parents remain the main source of guidance for younger children, but older teens are increasingly turning to online sources and social media, even though they often do not trust what they find, creating an information–trust gap.
Young people consistently expressed a desire not just to be listened to, but to be actively involved in shaping the decisions that affect their financial futures.
That means regulators and industry committing to ongoing, meaningful co-design with children and young people when developing financial products, experiences and policies.
The report calls for the financial services sector to develop financial pathways that grow with young people and are relevant to the real economic pressures they face; combine high‑quality digital access with meaningful human support, and strengthen fraud, scam and data protections while supporting financial autonomy and maintaining ease of use.
John Loughton, CEO of Young Scot, said: “This research is a clear call to action. Young people are navigating an increasingly complex financial world, yet too often the systems and support around them haven’t kept pace with how they live, learn and manage money today.
“Financial services have a huge opportunity here to become more inclusive, more transparent and more relevant to young people’s real lives and experiences. Let’s all collectively strive to meet the challenge of this generation's financial hopes and expectations.”