Completed Project Case Study: Inclusive FinTech – Co-Creating Accessible Financial Technologies with Disabled Communities  

Summary 

Financial independence is central to participation in modern life, yet disabled people still face significant barriers when using digital financial products such as online banking, pension platforms, or investment tools. While regulations like the Equality Act are intended to guarantee access, many financial technologies remain difficult for people with sensory, cognitive, or physical impairments. 

To address this gap, Dr Arthur Theil and Dr Sayan Sarcar of Birmingham City University partnered with Virgin Money to run a four-month UKFin+ pilot project. Through collaborative workshops with disabled communities, charity representatives, and financial sector stakeholders, the project explored the challenges disabled people face in accessing financial services and co-created recommendations for more inclusive, accessible technologies. 

The Challenge 

Although disabled people make up nearly a quarter of the UK population, they are often underserved by financial institutions. Everyday features such as biometric logins, online forms, or payment verification codes can present barriers, while poor compliance with accessibility standards excludes many users altogether. Research by the Lending Standards Board has shown that while some banks offer sign language support in-branch or remotely, very few provide accessible services via mobile or web platforms, which are tools most people rely on for financial management. 

This exclusion not only undermines financial independence but also creates stress, anxiety, and reliance on carers or workarounds. For financial providers, it represents a missed opportunity to serve a large customer base and to demonstrate social responsibility. 

The Research Approach 

The project was grounded in a participatory design process. A pre-screening survey gathered responses from 88 disabled individuals across the UK, followed by two collaborative workshops with 20 participants representing a range of disabilities. Virgin Money’s Human-Centred Design team joined the workshops, alongside other stakeholders. 

The first workshop focused on identifying barriers to access and understanding the lived experiences of disabled people when using financial technologies. The second workshop concentrated on co-creating solutions and developing actionable recommendations. The research team collected more than six hours of transcripts and carried out thematic analysis to identify patterns, challenges, and opportunities for inclusive design. 

Key Findings 

The research confirmed that disabled people experience systemic barriers when interacting with financial technologies, including inaccessible authentication methods, poor compatibility with assistive technologies, and overly complex processes. Participants also reported difficulties in accessing basic information about loans, pensions, or investments, and a lack of flexibility in how services are delivered. 

At the same time, the workshops highlighted clear opportunities for improvement. Participants proposed practical changes such as more accessible biometric authentication, simpler navigation, better use of plain language, and greater involvement of disabled people in product testing. Virgin Money is committed to taking these recommendations forward, including establishing an “inclusivity advisory board” to oversee accessibility in its digital products. 

The Impact 

The collaboration produced benefits for all parties. For disabled participants, the workshops were empowering, allowing their voices and lived experiences to directly shape the design of future technologies. For academics, the project advanced research into accessibility and inclusive design, and supported Dr Theil’s promotion to Senior Lecturer. For Virgin Money, the project delivered first-hand insights into customer experiences and actionable guidance to make products more inclusive. 

More broadly, the project is helping to establish “intelligibility” and accessibility as industry standards in financial services. By demonstrating how participatory design can drive innovation, it provides a model for other financial institutions to follow. The project has already influenced Virgin Money’s internal policies, and the findings have been shared widely at conferences, conventions, and through UKFin+ events. 

What Happens Next 

The project has laid a strong foundation for future collaboration and impact. Virgin Money has already begun integrating insights from the workshops, including the establishment of an “inclusivity advisory board” to ensure that accessibility is embedded in the design of new products. The academic team are preparing publications from the project, including papers submitted to international journals, to share findings more widely with both academic and professional audiences. 

New relationships with disability organisations such as Deafblind UK and the Thomas Pocklington Trust will help carry forward the project’s momentum, ensuring that disabled communities remain at the centre of conversations about inclusive FinTech. Through ongoing dissemination at conferences, seminars, and industry events, the team will continue to raise awareness and influence practice, encouraging the wider financial sector to adopt accessibility as a core principle of innovation. 

The support of UKFin+ was instrumental in making this work possible. By funding the project and providing a platform to connect with industry and third-sector stakeholders, UKFin+ enabled the research team to turn inclusive design principles into actionable insights that are already influencing financial services practice.