Vulnerable Customers Insight Report for Financial Services

Why vulnerable customer experiences matter

Customers can become vulnerable at any stage of life due to health conditions, financial pressures, bereavement, life events, low confidence or reduced digital skills. Financial services organisations need products, services and communications that work for people in a wide range of circumstances.

This insight report brings together recommendations from HSBC, ImpactMatch and AbilityNet to help accessibility, customer experience and digital teams create more inclusive customer journeys.

Who should read this report?

• Accessibility professionals
• Customer experience teams
• Digital transformation leaders
• Financial services product owners
• Compliance and risk teams
• Customer support and service leaders

What you will learn

• How customer vulnerability affects digital and non-digital journeys
• Common barriers faced by vulnerable customers
• Ways to embed inclusive design into financial services
• Approaches that go beyond compliance to improve customer outcomes
• Practical actions to improve accessibility across customer journeys

This report is for accessibility and customer experience professionals who want to design services that work for people in real life, not just meet compliance standards. 

This report gives you:

• Expert insights from HSBC, ImpactMatch and AbilityNet's accessibility specialists
• A checklist of ‘Key actions’ to take on each of the sections
• A high-risk customer journey review checklist

A taster of what's inside:

The key message is to design your products and services so that they work when your customers have less time, less confidence, less capacity or more at stake, and to treat accessibility as part of customer experience, not a separate workstream. 

1. Design for dynamic vulnerability: people’s needs change by context, stress, confidence and circumstance. 
2. Go beyond WCAG: test clarity, comprehension, support routes and end-to-end journeys. 
3. Focus on high-risk moments: complaints, fraud, debt, bereavement, account access and recovery journeys. 
4. Embed accessibility early: build it into design, content, governance and accessibility testing. 
    

Vulnerable customer and digital accessibility FAQs

What is a vulnerable customer?

People may become vulnerable because of health conditions, disability, financial circumstances, life events, low confidence or changing personal situations. Vulnerability can be temporary, permanent or situational.

Why is vulnerability important in financial services?

Financial services organisations need to ensure products, services and communications work for customers with a wide range of needs and circumstances. Inclusive design helps improve customer outcomes and reduce barriers.

How does digital accessibility support vulnerable customers?

Digital accessibility helps people access information, complete tasks and receive support regardless of disability, health conditions, confidence or digital skill level.

Who is this report designed for?

The report is designed for accessibility professionals, customer experience teams, digital leaders, product owners and financial services organisations seeking to improve support for vulnerable customers.

What practical guidance does the report include?

The report includes expert insights, customer journey recommendations, accessibility guidance and practical actions that organisations can use to create more inclusive services.