Chloe is a 22 year old graduate of Henley College and volunteer doggy-daycare attendant. 

Chloe has Cohen syndrome, a rare genetic condition that causes her severe learning difficulties and physical issues, including motor control problems and a degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa. Her disability has also meant that Chloe has had to have 3 major surgeries, during which she had to have her hips and femurs broken and rebuilt, her knees and feet reconstructed, and her lower spine fused. Chloe’s mother, Catherine, describes her as an ‘absolute trooper’, recovering very well from her surgeries, despite having to learn how to walk 3 separate times. “Chloe has an absolutely incredible sense of humour” she told us, brimming with pride, “She is my absolute joy; she just lights up every room she walks into”. Refusing to let anything hold her back, Chloe has recently finished her 3-year course at Henley College and is now on a work experience placement with a doggy-daycare, which is perfect for an outdoorsy animal-lover like her. However, some things in Chloe’s life are made unnecessarily difficult due to a lack of accessibility, like the barriers that are put up around money management and banking.

“Chloe has finally found places where she belongs, I want her to belong when it comes to her finances too” - Chloe’s mother, Catherine.

 

Watch the video of Chloe's story

Like many people both with and without a learning disability , Chloe wants to live her life as independently as possible, including when it comes to paying for things and looking after her money. In previous years Catherine would help Chloe budget by giving her a portion of cash to manage for a period, but with more shops and services going cashless this is becoming impractical. Catherine has tried lending her daughter her own bank card to pay for things by tapping with contactless, but this is unsafe, as it could leave Chloe vulnerable to scams and fraud. As well as that, being unable to see how much she is spending doesn’t help Chloe understand how much things should cost. Catherine wants her daughter to be able to pay for things without feeling left out, while improving her financial skills at the same time, to improve her safety and independence as she grows older.

If banks were to create a pre-paid banking card and app that was designed with accessibility in mind, offering features such as spending limits, extra fraud protection, and accessible interfaces, Chloe could manage her money safely and independently. This would be a huge step towards financial inclusion, giving Chloe the freedom to make her own financial choices and build confidence managing money, while keeping her safe from falling victim to financial crime .

“Chloe will always need 1 to 1 support, but it’s about giving her tools that give her moments of independence, so she can feel empowered with the choices she is making”

These difficulties haven’t just been Chloe’s, they are the reality for many of the 1.5 million people living in the UK with a learning disability. This is why we are calling on banks to design solutions that would give so many people in Chloe’s situation the independence that they deserve. Mencap’s Jackie O’Sullivan spoke to banks directly: “My message for financial service providers is this: Make yourselves accessible all the way through your customer journeys. Listen to your customers with a learning disability, employ people with a learning disability. Everyone will thank you for it.”

Sharing Chloe's story is part of Project Nemo, a 12-month campaign highlighting lived experiences of financial exclusion. The initiative aims to drive change by educating the FinTech industry on issues of disability inclusion and promoting steps that can be taken to improve financial accessibility.

Please share Chloe’s story, and help us call on banks to create a fairer financial system, one that works to include everyone.

A huge thanks to Chloe and Catherine Reid for sharing their story, and to Amar Hayer and Changemaker studios for the production of the short film.