A new survey commissioned by fintech firm Rollee and conducted by Opinion Matters has revealed that 74 per cent of gig economy workers have faced exclusion from basic financial products, including mortgages and loans, despite having good credit scores.
Rollee surveyed 1,002 gig economy workers who had applied for financial products for its study, entitled The Hidden Cost of Gig Worker Living. The survey found that 60 per cent had to apply to three or more separate lenders in order to be granted access to a loan or credit card, with just 10 per cent being successful with the first lender they applied to.
52 per cent had lost out on a new home after they were declined by a bank or building society, despite having affordability. 32 per cent said that financial exclusion had put stress on them or their families, 29 per cent said it had led to financial hardship, a further 29 per cent said it had impacted opportunities in their lives and 20 per cent said it had prevented them accessing housing.
Overall, 80 per cent of respondents were concerned that their ability to access a loan would be affected by the current economic climate, but 25 per cent said that they would still apply for a loan in the near future.
Rollee co-founder and Chief Executive Ali Hamriti said: “This research reveals the level of financial exclusion gig workers are facing. The struggle gig workers experience is not because they can’t afford a loan or mortgage, but because the current credit scoring systems of financial institutions are not set up to verify their multiple records of income and employment data.”
“With financial institutions under increasing pressure, this results in workers being denied access to products they should be entitled to.”
Hamriti added: “As the number of independent workers continues to rise, it is vital that financial organisations find new ways to gain full visibility of self-employed workers’ employment data to assess them fairly, and ensure they are not excluded from financial products just because of their working status.”
