Scotland’s financial services sector is one of the mainstays of our economy. A long legacy in banking and asset management stretching back centuries and now home to one of Europe’s leading fintech hubs means the sector has a strong past and a vibrant future.

Glasgow and Edinburgh are both well placed as Top 50 global financial centres, and the industry is taking a strategic approach to understanding how best to build on these successes, with the sector’s strategy for future growth due to be soon published by industry body Scottish Financial Enterprise.

Digital Financial Services is identified as a core strength in Scotland’s inward investment strategy with significant success in attracting investment and high-paying jobs to Scotland over recent years.

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Scotland, already home to the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI), is well positioned to be at the forefront of the financial transition to the green economy with a much higher proportion of ESG funds under management than for the UK as a whole But banking is more than just another sector. It is critical to the success of the rest of the economy. All businesses need sources of finance - loans, investment or help with short-term cash flow challenges - and they need banking services. Easy access to banking facilities is critical to meeting Scotland’s aspirations to build our entrepreneurial base and become that Start-Up nation.

Getting an account should be a quick and easy process. Businesses should be up and trading with the minimum of fuss and effort. Entrepreneurs are time-poor, they don’t need the inertia of banking bureaucracy eating away at their productivity while they wait weeks for banks to approve their applications.

And banking services are critical to individuals as well as businesses. More than 100,000 people in Scotland don’t have a bank account, despite UK regulations that require banks to provide those basic services. Bank branch closures in recent years have been an ongoing concern. The move to a cashless society presents many opportunities for ease of doing business, but it also present challenges, particularly for those without access to banking services.

And "exiting" is a problem too.

The Federation of Small Businesses has seen a steady rise in the number of small businesses losing their bank accounts over recent years, often with little notice and no explanation.

Recent reports of banks "exiting" customers based on their political beliefs is a sinister development. Financial institutions cannot be the arbiters of political acceptability any more than say electricity companies or health providers. Exclusion isn’t inclusive.

There is some irony in the institution most famous for providing banking services to the unelected head of state setting itself up as the arbiter of who is considered "progressive" enough to be allowed a bank account in a modern democracy.

Yes, checks need to be in place to prevent money laundering and organised crime, but those should be well-defined and limited to identifying sources of funds and other relevant checks for potential criminality.

While financial services, and the relevant regulations, are reserved to Westminster, much can be done to work with the sector in Scotland to identify practical steps to ensure everyone has access to banking facilities. And the Scottish Government could take steps to outline what such an inclusive banking system would look like were those powers to be transferred to Holyrood in the future. A Code of Conduct agreed with the sector would help, including requirements to give clear information to businesses and individuals as to why they are de-banked or refused services, and tracking timelines for account approvals with targets for improvement, so applicants know what to expect through the process.

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The good news is that the sector in Scotland is working to address some of these issues with banks running schemes to provide accounts for the homeless, ex-prisoners, victims of modern slavery, refugees or those fleeing domestic abuse who might not otherwise be able to provide the relevant proof of address paperwork, removing what is often a significant barrier to re-integration into society.

A summit on vulnerable customers hosted earlier this year by Scottish Financial enterprise enabled sharing of best practice amongst financial institutions We have an opportunity to position Scotland not just as having a strong financial services sector able to compete globally in the 21st century, but also one that delivers an inclusivity agenda that supports our wellbeing economy aspirations, ensuring that all of our citizens who want to are able to access banking services to enable them to participate fully in a modern wellbeing economy, and giving Scottish SMEs and entrepreneurs a competitive advantage internationally with best in class, agile and responsive banking services that don’t smother growth opportunities with inertia.

That is the sort of inclusion that banks would be well placed to take to heart as their core mission, putting the ‘S’ firmly in ESG.

Ivan McKee is an MSP and former Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise