Case studies

Citizens Advice uses PayPoint and AperiData financial support tool to speed up debt assessments

18 February 2025

In late 2023, payment systems provider PayPoint and credit reference agency AperiData announced a pilot project to use open banking data to support Citizens Advice Stevenage with its handling of debt assessments.

The independent advice charity estimates that its advisers spend around 30% of their time sorting through clients’ paperwork to complete the financial assessment process, handling up to 600 different data points covering income, expenditure and debt, before it can advise clients on their options. This manual process can take several weeks, particularly if paperwork is missing.

With an average debt of around £65,000 per household in the UK, advisers at the national charity face increased demand for support (it helped 2.5 million people in 2024), particularly one-to-one sessions, but its capacity to meet that rising demand was limited. One of the pilot’s key aims was to automate key manual tasks and allow Citizens Advice to focus its resources on providing real value to those in need, freeing staff up to assist an additional 150,000 clients annually across the whole network.

Faster financial reviews

PayPoint’s Financial Information Service (FIS) Customer Support Tool enables clients to consent to a near real-time review of their finances, using open banking data, in a safe environment. The tool, which was co-developed with AperiData, automates 540 of the 600 data points used in a standard financial assessment. The data assessment can now take less than one minute, which makes it less stressful for clients and more streamlined for advisers.

As well as reducing the time spent on manual data entry, advisers at the Stevenage office were able to offer online support to clients who couldn’t undertake a face-to-face visit.

“There are several routine challenges in assisting people with advice on their financial circumstances. These include relying on supplied paperwork to be accurate and up to date, lengthy waits for new statements or bills requested from suppliers or banks and the fact that sometimes, by the time our advisers have the information they need, someone’s financial circumstances may have evolved. 

Charlotte Blizzard-Welch, CEO, Citizens Advice Stevenage

She continued: “The trial of PayPoint’s FIS tool enabled our advisers to achieve an almost instant, real-time view of people’s financial circumstances, meaning they can offer their advice faster and more efficiently and reduce the number of clients who drop out of support because of difficulty in gathering data. Its impact upon wider application, in increasing the number of people we can help take action against debt, are hard to overestimate.”

The Stevenage pilot – one year on

Looking back on the first year of the programme, Ryann Hansen, Advice Quality and Operations Manager, Citizens Advice Stevenage, commented: “I’m responsible for overseeing our advice services and ensuring the quality of the advice we provide to our clients. Having been a part of the Customer Service Tools journey over the past year, I’ve seen its impact on allowing us to assist clients to better understand their finances and enable us to provide even more detailed financial capability and sustainability advice. It has also allowed us to spend more time talking to clients because it has reduced the casework admin involved in bank statement analysis.”

He added that the tool was up and running, and advisers confident in using the platform, in the space of just one month.

Case study – highlighting non-essential spending

Hannah*, a young single parent to three children, showed signs of overspending during a phone conversation about her finances. She agreed to use the FIS Tool, which allowed her to provide necessary information quickly.

The FIS Tool revealed that a large part of Hannah’s income was spent on eating out and leisure, rather than paying priority bills such as rent or council tax.

This insight led to a focused conversation with Hannah about budgeting, paying rent through Universal Credit, and setting limits for non-essential spending.

Cost and time savings

The Stevenage office calculates that the FIS tool has enabled advisers to assist on 51 occasions for 39 clients, offering an average time saving of three hours and reduced attrition. Eliminating the need for paper files and reduced printing costs has also meant an average cost saving of £50 per case.

Clients commented on the simplicity of the consent journey, and the ease of getting the relevant information to advisers.

Case study – signposting to professional help

Jane* appeared motivated to address her debt, but she had struggled to send bank statements for four months, and without the bank statements, the debt advice process stalled. The team offered Jane the option to use the FIS Tool, which she accepted over a phone call.

On reviewing the statements generated by the FIS Tool, it became clear that Jane had a gambling problem, spending heavily at online betting outlets.

With her consent, she was referred for help with her gambling addiction. The FIS Tool was instrumental in quickly identifying the problem and enabling timely intervention.

*Details have been anonymised. File imagery.

The Stevenage team found that the tool gave them a more up-to-date view of clients’ finances, improving the accuracy of assessments, while still incorporating the key human element of advice. Clients have benefited from improved financial wellbeing and resilience.

Following the success of the Stevenage pilot, PayPoint’s FIS Customer Support Tool has been rolled out to other CAB branches throughout the UK, including Cambridge, Dover, Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford.

Notes to editors

Open Banking Limited does not endorse any of the products or companies mentioned here.

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