Digital Money Coaching

Citizens Advice was awarded funding by SSE to develop and test a new 'Digital Money Coach' volunteer role to support clients in embedding financially capable habits and behaviours while improving their digital capability.

The pilot tested whether digital money coaches could support clients in three areas: building digital capability and computer skills - including skills to help manage the transition to Universal Credit; building financial capability and resilience to future financial shocks; and reducing the proportion of household income spent on energy.

The service ran for 12 months, ending in March 2016, across five local Citizens Advice offices: Arun and Chichester, Bristol, Caerphilly, County Durham and Milton Keynes. Volunteer digital money coaches worked directly with clients to build digital, financial and energy-management skills and confidence.

643 clients were recorded in the pilot's monitoring spreadsheet, including those invited to take part; 492 (77%) became 'active clients' who worked with a coach, while 151 (24%) did not take up the service or dropped out early. Against a target of reaching 400 people, 426 were recorded as reached. In follow-up self-report surveys: 58% of clients said they felt more able to use digital technologies and 59% said they had changed how they use digital technology; 42% felt more able to manage their finances and 38% said they had changed how they manage their finances; and 33% felt more able to manage their energy bills and 35% said they had changed how they manage their energy bills.

Citizens Advice's own summary describes the pilot as having demonstrated impact in an important field of work (digital financial management) and as being replicable. This is a self-assessment rather than an independent evaluation, and the outcome figures are based on client self-report without a comparison group.