Financial Technologies in the Cycle of Poor Mental Health and Financial Hardship: Towards Financial Citizenship

It is well documented that people living with mental health con- ditions are more likely to experience fnancial difculties. When explaining this association, emphasis has often been placed on fnancial capability, i.e. the capacity of those living with poor men- tal health to manage their money. This paper challenges such capability-based explanations by reporting on a diary study and interviews with 14 people who self-identify as living with a men- tal health condition. We focused on their experiences of fnancial technology use, and explored the role technology played in their strategies to minimise the impact of mental health on their eco- nomic circumstances. Rather than lacking capability, participants’ practices revealed shortcomings of existing fnancial technologies and how they sought to work around these. We conclude by pro- viding a set of design directions for technologies that engage those living with poor mental health not as vulnerable targets for fnancial inclusion, but as full fnancial citizens

"Pick Someone Who Can Kick Your Ass" - Moneywork in Financial Third Party Access

This paper explores some of the new possibilities for financial third party access that are enabled by "open banking". The term open banking is used to designate the availability of banks' customer data through application programming interfaces (APIs). Financial third party access refers to the mechanisms that facilitate the engagement of others in the management of our personal finances. Engaging trusted others in personal finances may be especially valuable for individuals experiencing financial hardship or life circumstances that place their financial stability at risk. We deployed a new third party access tool enabled by the UK Open Banking APIs for 90 days with 14 people who self-identified as living with a mental health condition. The tool, which was developed by a financial technology startup founded by the second author, allowed participants to select a trusted "ally" who was notified when certain transactions took place in participants' bank accounts. During the deployment, the 14 participants and 8 of their "allies" took part in a diary study and pre- and post-deployment interviews. The experiences of our participants reveal the inadequacy and shortcomings of existing formal third party access mechanisms, and the moneywork involved in financial third party access. We argue that focusing on this moneywork can help us design flexible, proportionate and practice-sensitive services for financial third party access that move beyond discourses of protection and control in order to enable meaningful financial collaboration