Our groundbreaking research details how using Toucan helped people living with mental health conditions
We’re launching new research today following our work with leading research charity the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute and Northumbria University’s School of Design. You can download the report here.
Groundbreaking research
Our new report, Let’s talk about money, details our experience of testing third party money alerts, a light touch type of third party access, with people living with mental health conditions and their loved ones, recruited through the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute.
We’re the first to have tested this type of spending alert to a loved one with members of the public.
We hope our research will play a role in pushing for change in the industry. Banks aren’t providing safe, convenient tools for third party access, and that’s pushing people in vulnerable circumstances to use risky workarounds like sharing their online banking logins, opening themselves up to financial abuse.
Detailed in our report are the results of a survey we conducted through the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, which revealed that four in ten are getting support around money management from someone they trust, with 29% using risky workarounds to do so, such as sharing their PIN and card or letting someone log into their online banking.
Four in ten are getting support around money management from someone they trust.
Demand for third party access tools
Our survey revealed the scale of the need to provide safer options for people to manage their money with someone they trust.
One such tool is third party money alerts, text messages set up to be sent to both the account holder and someone they trust whenever there is unusual spending activity.
When surveyed, 96% of people who were already getting support said they would find light-touch alerts that notify a nominated family member useful when unwell, and 89% said they would be useful day-to-day.
96% of people who were already getting support said they would find light-touch alerts that notify a nominated family member useful when unwell.
The benefits of third party money alerts
Our findings show that turning on alerts for our 14 pilot testers helped them develop improved financial habits, such as checking their bank balance more often, creating a budget and avoiding overspending online.
Alerts also helped users open up more about their money troubles and mental health to their nominated family and friends, lowering feelings of anxiety and shame.
“It brought down the barriers for me to be able to speak to my family.”
“We hear a lot about talking about mental health but engaging in the conversation is very, very hard when you’re stuck in the rabbit hole. So it opens up the conversation.”
