PRA Group And StepChange Debt Charity Convene Stakeholders To Advance Financial Inclusion

PRA Group and StepChange have just held a cross‑sector roundtable in the UK Parliament aimed at strengthening financial inclusion, with a particular focus on people in or recovering from problem debt.

What they did

• PRA Group UK and StepChange convened a policy roundtable at the House of Lords on 12 March 2026, hosted by MP Gill Furniss, who chairs the All‑Party Parliamentary Group for Debt and Financial Inclusion.

• Stakeholders included banks, fintechs, credit reference agencies, not‑for‑profits, think tanks, trade bodies, regulators and government departments.

Focus of the discussion

• The core theme was the UK’s financial inclusion strategy, especially how to improve outcomes for people in debt and expand access to safe, affordable credit.

• Building on prior joint work, PRA Group and StepChange are looking at how credit scoring and credit information frameworks influence access to finance and can prolong financial exclusion for those who have already engaged in affordable repayment plans.

Key insights from their research

• Many customers associate their credit scores with feelings of control, normality and self‑worth, and see access to credit for emergencies as central to their financial resilience.

• People who have stuck to affordable repayment arrangements and built regular payment habits often cannot obtain suitable finance at a price that reflects their actual risk and improved creditworthiness.

• StepChange’s client evidence indicates worries about credit scores can delay help‑seeking, and people recovering from problem debt remain vulnerable to being pushed back into difficulty by irregular or unexpected expenses.

Links to policy and regulation

• The roundtable is explicitly positioned as input into the government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, aiming to ensure industry and civil society shape how policy supports financially vulnerable households.

• It also sits against the backdrop of the FCA’s Credit Information Market Study and its recommendations to improve how credit information and reporting work for borrowers in financial difficulty, including enabling rehabilitating borrowers to re‑enter the credit market on fairer terms.

Stated objectives going forward

• PRA Group and StepChange frame this as an ongoing collaboration to develop evidence‑based approaches and practical credit reporting solutions that can: support people in financial difficulty, reduce barriers to seeking advice, and make access to mainstream, affordable credit more inclusive for people who are repaying debts.

• Their public comments emphasize using these forums to influence how lenders, credit reference agencies and policymakers treat customers in or emerging from collections, so that good repayment behavior translates more reliably into improved credit access.