Read: Ending the digital divide in finance

Politicians struggle with technology. Whether it be social media regulation, making big tech pay their fair share in taxes, or upskilling the workforce, we’ve witnessed policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic struggle to communicate a convincing vision for a more dynamic and harmonious digital world. 

And partly due to the past failures of our leaders to adequately prepare societies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, one of the lessons the pandemic has taught us is that, in many respects, we’re not as technologically advanced as we hoped we might be. With kids locked out of the classroom, too many parents struggled to get them online or connected to their schoolwork with a reliable internet connection.  

It seemed to come as a surprise to some that many families made do with their cellular data plans to access education. And while companies like ours donated laptops to help ensure these children could continue with their studies, education is but one sector of our economy that risks cleaving society into two camps: the digital haves and the digital have nots. 

That’s why we must make our society more digitally inclusive before tackling other inequalities – by putting everyone on an equal footing through access to technology and training, efforts to tackle inequalities in education, income and health will be boosted.    

In the year 2021, not being connected means being left behind; no more so than in finance and personal investing, where more and more investment decisions are being made without the advice of a fellow human being. More importantly, those investment decisions have been made safer through the creation of diversified portfolios managed by experienced professionals, meaning it has never been easier to invest and generate a decent return.  

The so-called democratisation of finance has now put the prospect of solid investment returns within the grasp of many more hands. That’s a good thing, too, seeing as many Britons still aren’t putting enough money away to save for their retirements, with the FCA currently warning that 1.7m people are missing out on wealth creation by holding excessive cash. And what’s worse, millions of Britain’s sitting on these savings are likely to see their purchasing power eroded by inflation. 

The savings gap is being fueled by a perception that investments are a preserve of, if not the rich, the middle class. What many fail to perceive is that here, too, things are changing; not only has finance democratised, but the technology behind it has too. Platforms like True Potential’s have been designed to make investment easy; more importantly, our platform does not require users to have large amounts of money for an initial investment. One pound is all it takes. Even better, once people are set up, they can bank small amounts of disposable money and watch it grow over time.

With life returning to normal, it is now our collective responsibility to nudge more people across the digital divide in finance and ensure more families are doing what they can to build resilience in their personal finances. This can even start in schools, where both children and parents should really gain more access to digital skills and financial education. Meanwhile, businesses – particularly in the financial sector – have a responsibility to improve outreach to the financially excluded. 

Let’s build a more financially inclusive society by bridging the digital divide. After that, the possibilities are endless. 

Daniel Harrison, True Potential Chief Executive