Interview: How Project Nemo is working to accelerate disability inclusion in the UK fintech industry
“Doesn’t everyone deserve the opportunity to wake up and have a purpose in the day?”
Project Nemo is aiming to accelerate disability inclusion in fintech
With 24% of the UK working population having some form of disability, why is the fintech industry, one which is at the forefront of innovation, lagging behind some traditional sectors when it comes to disability inclusion?
FinTech Futures sits down with Joanne Dewar, former CEO of Thredd, to discuss the existing barriers to entry for individuals with disabilities in the fintech industry, the potential opportunities that companies are overlooking, and how her new initiative, Project Nemo, aims to tackle these challenges head-on.
The launch of Project Nemo
Project Nemo, an initiative to accelerate disability inclusion within the UK fintech sector, was launched last month with the aim of encouraging the industry to better serve those with disabilities and lived experiences.
The non-profit organisation has been set up by Dewar alongside disability advocate Kris Foster and graduate Ella Manley.
The project, which will consist of a 12-month disability inclusion campaign, intends to provide the fintech sector with the resources and expertise to help build a more inclusive industry.
While explaining the origins of Project Nemo, Dewar remarks that in a previous role, she had the opportunity to shape “progressive DNI (diversity and inclusion) strategies”, which included creating a front-of-house position for someone from a special needs educational background.
The positive outcome of this experience prompted Dewar to raise more awareness across the fintech industry about the valuable contributions that individuals with disabilities can make in the workplace.
Dewar has been on a mission, speaking at numerous conferences and building relationships across the disability community, before joining forces with Foster and Manley to launch Project Nemo.
“Every single organisation is dealing with DNI in the same order. Gender first, then ethnicity, then LGBTQ, and disability is at best fourth,” says Dewar.
Project Nemo aims to raise awareness about the obstacles that individuals with disabilities face when entering the industry and facilitate connections between fintech leaders and people with first-hand experience of these challenges.
“There’s no reason why we couldn’t be a real leader in being inclusive”
Currently, the disability employment gap in the UK, which represents the difference in the employment rate of disabled people and those who are not disabled, stands at approximately 28%.
However, according to Sandi Wassmer, CEO of the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion, the financial services sector is guilty of having one of the lowest percentages of disabled people employed. Only 12% of employees in the industry are disabled, compared to 88% of non-disabled individuals.
As a result, fintech companies are missing out on highly skilled and motivated individuals.
Moreover, Dewar highlights that from the employee’s perspective: “If you think your employer’s doing the right thing by the disabled community, then they are more likely to be happy and stay.”
Dewar emphasises that as the “architects of the future of financial services”, fintechs are well-positioned to address this issue “because we are innovative, because we are early adopters, and because we are fast-moving”.
Boosting accessibility and inclusion
As well as the fintech sector lacking job opportunities for people with disabilities, Dewar observes that while traditional financial institutions “recognise that they are there for the whole society”, there is a danger that fintech, “in its infancy”, has overlooked consumers with disabilities due to the industry’s “initial focus on the digital mainstream”.
“If you start to get told by people that are disabled that actually the challenger banks are worse than the incumbents, then that’s uncomfortable messaging,” Dewar says.
Joanne Dewar, Project Nemo head (Image: Project Nemo)
Dewar highlights factors such as digital identity verification mechanisms and the “environment” of websites and apps as just a few areas where fintech can often unintentionally create barriers to entry for people with disabilities.
A study conducted by the University of Bristol and the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC) revealed that 24% of individuals with disabilities encounter difficulties when using online banking services. This figure escalates to 58% among individuals who face challenges in using digital devices.
In addition to the moral duty to make services more easily accessible, there is a compelling financial rationale for why the fintech industry should prioritise enhanced disability inclusion.
At this point, Dewar references “The Purple Pound”, the spending power of disabled individuals and their households, which is currently estimated to be worth £274 billion a year to the UK market, according to the disability equality charity Scope.
Dewar says that “if someone gets treated well” by a certain brand or company, it influences their “immediate circle” to view those firms favourably and align themselves with the business, boosting brand image and loyalty and bringing in more customers while also helping to build a more inclusive society.
“If you get diversity inclusion right, then everyone benefits”
Despite the compelling arguments outlined above for why disability inclusion is paramount for fintechs, Dewar observes that the sector still requires a significant push in the right direction. This is where her Project Nemo steps in.
“It’s not a zero-sum game. If you get diversity inclusion right, then everyone benefits. Somehow that message isn’t getting through,” Dewar says.
Educating and subsequently raising awareness are the key tenets of the project’s 12-month campaign.
Dewar explains how the project is firstly aiming to encourage fintechs “that are doing well today” to share their success stories and “the benefits they’ve seen”, whether it’s with other fintechs or the public.
Secondly, through the delivery of a suite of educational workshops, the project is looking to train and “progress the journeys” of companies who are on an “adoption curve” and are attempting to implement inclusive initiatives.
Moreover, at the culmination of the campaign, the project will create a comprehensive “how-to guide on disability inclusion accessibility”. This guide will consist of a series of podcasts and e-book chapters offering practical steps for fintechs to navigate and highlighting the business benefits of enhanced inclusion.
“What I hope is for the disabled community to start to think, actually, fintech is an industry that is really open and welcome”
As our discussion comes to an end, Dewar reaffirms that “disability inclusion is such a strong indicator as to how a company is likely to be with its staff and how it’s likely to be with its partners”.
Furthermore, Dewar concludes by expressing her anticipation for the Paralympics later this year, describing it as the “two weeks every four years” when the world “wakes up” and “takes an interest in disability”.
“What I hope is for the disabled community to start to think, actually, fintech is an industry that is really open and welcome,” Dewar says.
“As the rest of the world considers what everyone else is doing regarding disability inclusion, at that point, we’ll be able to, as an industry, say that we’re already six months down the track and this is what we are doing.”
