Financial Inclusion and access to returns

Three weeks ago, our co-founder Rhydian Lewis received an OBE for innovation in financial inclusion.

RateSetter was launched seven years ago to make investing better by opening the asset class of loans to everyone, so financial inclusion has always been important to us. We are helping to establish an asset class that sits between cash and equities which we believe is a genuinely helpful part of any investor’s portfolio and is available to everyone in a simple and accessible way.

Rhydian said: “I was honoured to receive an OBE for contribution to financial services and I received the actual award three weeks ago. It specifically cited being a 'financial inclusion innovator', which made me particularly proud because the reason I founded RateSetter seven years ago was to make returns more available to the normal investor."

"Our purpose at RateSetter is to make investing better by opening the asset class of loans to everyone and so financial inclusion is and always has been an article of faith at RateSetter. Finance is a lot to do with access and we are proud to be opening the rewards of lending to every investor, rewards previously only enjoyed by banks and institutions."

"It started when I saw that my father was unable to access returns without venturing into exotic investment products or paying away large fees to advisers and I thought: why can’t normal people access the returns from loans? Why is it that banks and institutions can access these returns but not normal people? It went from there and we are now helping to establish an asset class that sits between cash and equities which we believe is a genuinely helpful part of any investor’s portfolio and crucially is available to everyone in a simple and accessible way."

"The term financial inclusion often refers to ‘access to credit’; at RateSetter we also believe it is ‘access to returns’ and I am delighted that this belief has been recognised, together with all the hard work needed every day by a lot of people to make it happen in a safe and responsible way. I would like to finish by thanking all of you for being customers and for placing your trust with us.”