Five major banks in the UK have partnered with housing charity Shelter to provide bank accounts to people experiencing homelessness. The pilot involves Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Barclays, Nationwide, and Santander, and forms part of a new Financial Inclusion Strategy unveiled by the UK government this week.
According to a statement by the UK Treasury, this strategy aims to establish “a national plan to make financial services work for everyone, from people experiencing homelessness and survivors of abuse to families with no savings and children learning about money for the first time”.
The initiative includes partnerships with credit agencies to restore affected consumer credit records, payroll savings schemes offered in partnership with employers, and strengthened financial education in schools.
For their part, the new bank partners will waive the requirement for applicants to present a fixed home address when opening accounts, instead deriving the relevant user criteria from Shelter’s verified database.
This joint effort builds on the charity’s existing partnership with HSBC, which delivered the No Fixed Address service and has already helped 7,000 people open bank accounts since 2019.
The UK government is also “backing the rollout of 350 new banking hubs by the end of this parliament” in 2029. Ministers are set to open the 200th hub “later this year” as part of a wider push to “keep access to banking open for all”, HM Treasury says.
Lucy Rigby, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, comments: “This plan is about opening doors – helping people experiencing homelessness into work, helping survivors of abuse rebuild their credit, and helping families save for a rainy day.”
Rigby continues: “No one should be locked out of the chance to build a better future. Our strategy gives people the tools to get on and boosts the economy by supporting more people back into work through our Plan for Change.”
Source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/
