Bank guide to help vulnerable
A new guide has been launched to help those in a vulnerable position with their banking needs.
The Irish Banking Culture Board (IBCB) this week launched a Guide to the Basic Bank Account providing essential guidance for customers, and particularly customers in a vulnerable position, to apply for a bank account to support their inclusion and accessibility to banking in Ireland.
A basic bank account is a current account that provides essential daily banking services, which all residents of the EU have the right to, no matter what their financial situation.
The basic bank account financially empowers customers in a vulnerable position, supporting peoples’ financial freedom and providing dignity and access to a better life for many.
IBCB said it undertook qualitive research in 2020 to better understand the needs and wants of people in accessing and utilising banking services. In doing so, it sought the views of organisations that support marginalised and vulnerable groups who experience difficulties accessing banking products.
The research identified a clear need to raise awareness of the basic bank account as a first step towards financial inclusion across society.
The guide has been translated into Arabic, French, Lithuanian, Polish, Pashto, Urdu, Portuguese, and Mandarin.
Board Member of the IBCB, Angela Black, said: “This guide is of vital importance and a positive response from the banking sector to help prevent financial exclusion for many people in Ireland. The Guide to the Basic Bank Account is a user-friendly source of key information to support customers.”
Angela continued: “Banks have listened and are responding to the needs of those who have found opening a bank account challenging, due to their specific personal circumstances. By providing this helpful guide, which promotes an important service, banks are demonstrating in a practical manner, their support for marginalised members of our community, those dealing with domestic or societal challenges that have impacted their lives, and those excluded by the language barrier.”
In addition to publishing this guide, IBCB is partnering with Safe Ireland and TASC in providing funding, banking expertise and support with bespoke financial resilience training to victims of domestic abuse.
This partnership will have an impact nationwide, delivering valuable training throughout Safe Ireland’s national network of 39 organisations.
CEO of Safe Ireland, Mary McDermott, said: “Safe Ireland warmly welcomes the publication of a Guide to the Basic Bank Account by the Irish Banking Culture Board. Central to intimate coercion and the use of violence is the desire to access and control finance. It is a well-evidenced means of abuse and often engenders financial illiteracy in those targeted.”
Safe Ireland estimates that when this training is delivered to service providers across their national network, it will benefit at least 11,000 women and over 2,500 children per year.
The IBCB is an independent industry initiative established and funded by the five retail banks in Ireland - Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, KBC Bank Ireland, Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank.