Memorandum submitted by Barclays
1. EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
1.1 Barclays is committed to promoting financial
inclusion, ensuring a balance between both social and commercial
objectives. Our starting point has been to promote access to banking
and we continue to drive improvements to Barclays Basic Bank Account
and its accessibility. 379,000 "Cash Card Accounts"
(our Basic Bank Account offering) are open and 2004 customer research
showed that 89% of our customers were satisfied with their accounts.
Post Office Card Accounts continue to prove popular and should
be researched further to develop a coherent future strategy on
access to banking.
1.2 Regarding affordable credit, we believe
that a sustainable community finance sector is key to providing
a viable alternative to high-cost lenders and Barclays financial
inclusion strategy makes support of Credit Unions and Community
Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) a priority. Secondly,
Barclays seeks to provide fair and non-discriminatory access to
its credit products to consumers, subject to ability to repay.
Data sharing is an essential element of this, and for this reason
Barclaycard is a leading member of a recently launched initiative
to improve data sharing levels ie via the sharing of "behavioural
data", such as information about payments. Furthermore Barclays
is currently the only bank to publicly disclose personal sector
lending data in deprived areas.
1.3 Regarding financial education and advice,
Barclays approaches this in three ways: (i) by providing clear
information on our products (see Barclays aide memoire sent to
Treasury Select Committee in November 2005); (ii) working with
organisations including the Money Advice Trust, Citizens Advice
and through Barclaycard Horizons, a new consortium of bodies to
help lone-parents; (iii) working with the FSA in its National
Strategy for Financial Capability. HM Government should be responsible
for the delivery of financial capability. The FSA has an important
role to play as a co-ordinator of initiatives.
1.4 Regarding incentives and barriers to
savings, HM Government, industry and community finance organisations
must work together to improve strategy and action planning in
this area. Barclays fully supports the role that Credit Unions
can play in mobilising savings among those on benefit and low
income and recognises the importance of encouraging the savings
habit amongst all our customers.
1.5 To develop a consistent approach and
maximise resources we believe that it is crucial for HM Government
to develop a financial inclusion strategy across all relevant
departments. The Financial Inclusion Taskforce may be able to
play a role in this. The community finance sector will require
long-term investment.
1.6 Regarding financial inclusion measures,
Barclays believes that it would be helpful to all stakeholders
involved if HM Government was to develop a strategic framework
for establishing future socio-economic measures and indicators
on financial inclusion.
2. INTRODUCTION
2.1 Barclays PLC is a UK-based international
financial services group engaged primarily in banking, investment
banking and investment management. In terms of assets employed,
Barclays is one of the largest financial services groups in the
United Kingdom. Barclays has been involved in banking for over
300 years and operates in over 60 countries with more than 110,500
permanent employees, including 32,500 at Absa in South Africa.
For more information about Barclays PLC, please visit www.barclays.com.
2.2 Barclays is committed to promoting financial
inclusion as a core element in our approach to corporate responsibility.
For this reason, Barclays has had a dedicated Financial Inclusion
Team for the last five years. We seek to have a measurable impact
on financial exclusion, looking to balance both social and commercial
objectives. This is done in part with our own products and services
and also through supporting other organisations that provide fair
and affordable options for those who cannot access mainstream
financial services.
2.3 A recent report[45]
commissioned by ANZ Bank benchmarked their activities in the field
of financial inclusion and financial literacy against the performance
of other leading banks around the world. The report found that
Barclays has done most to advance both thinking and action in
the UK, and its efforts put it ahead of banks assessed worldwide.
The report recognised Barclays leading position around deprived
area data disclosure, our work with the New Economics Foundation
(NEF),[46]
praise from stakeholders including the Credit Union sector (highlighting
PEARLS)[47]
and support for the free money advice sector.
3. ACCESS TO
BANKING SERVICES
3.1 Improving access to banking services
is important to us. We believe we have a responsibility to provide
access to Basic Bank Accounts and basic financial services where
demand exists. We do this through our Cash Card Account, our Basic
Bank Account offering. No potential customers are excluded from
applying: we are able to open Cash Card Accounts for the majority
of applicants,[48]
including undischarged bankrupts—although this will not
extend to those with a history of fraud, or instances where we
suspect money laundering, for example.
3.2 Barclays Cash Card Account provides
an easy-to-use account for people who have not had a bank account
before and for those who need an account with no credit facility.
— As at 31 December 2005, we had 379,000
Cash Card Accounts and we continue to open them at a rate of some
6,000 per month (net of account closures).
— We display leaflets/application forms
in our branches.
— In order to make it easier to open
a Cash Card Account, identification and address verification ("ID&V")
can take place in a branch[49]
and non-standard documents can be accepted as proof of address
or identity.[50]
— We make a free helpline available
to applicants to ensure that we can help those who have limited
documentation.
— In 2004 we commissioned research
among 500 Cash Card Account customers which showed that we were
meeting the needs of the account's target customers,[51]
89% were satisfied with the account.
— Barclays is currently the only bank
to publish data on the proportion of its customers—including
Basic Bank Account holders—from deprived areas.[52]
— Our Cash Card Account customers are
able to use any of our branches and any of our ATMs, free of charge.
In fact, all our customers, including Cash Card Account customers,
can withdraw cash free of charge at more than 30,000 ATMs in the
LINK network throughout the UK.
3.3 Our relationship with the Post Office
means that all Barclays personal account holders—including
Cash Card Account customers—can also use any of more than
12,000 Post Offices in England and Wales to make cash withdrawals
free of charge.
3.4 Barclays is also contributing £30
million over five years (2003-2008) towards the running costs
of the Post Office Card Account (POCA) as part of an industry
total of £182 million. However, there is no certainty that
HM Government will continue to support the POCA when current contracts
expire. This is despite the account proving to be a popular alternative
to Basic Bank Accounts. As POCAs have proved to be popular[53]
we have long argued that research be undertaken to see how well
that product meets customers" needs. Without this demand-side
research HM Government will be unable to build a coherent strategy
for Basic Bank Accounts. Increasing the functionality of POCAs
(eg to include direct debits) may be more attractive to many customers
than migration to Basic Bank Accounts.
3.5 The most effective way of reaching people
on benefits and low incomes, who do not have bank accounts, is
via the extensive network already established by HM Government
and the charitable sector—in particular, Job Centre Plus
and Citizens Advice outlets etc. Conventional forms of marketing
have proved ineffective at reaching this group of people.
3.6 In 2003, Barclays and the Association
of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL) commissioned some research[54]
analysing the target market for nine Credit Unions across England
and Scotland. This provided a useful insight into the financial
situation and perspectives of people living in disadvantaged communities.
The research found that 38% of respondents relied on "word
of mouth" to gain information on financial services—only
7% used personal experience, 16% relied on television, 12% on
newspaper advertisements and 11% on direct mail. This highlights
that the most effective methods of raising awareness and reaching
the more disadvantaged communities are through organisations working
within these communities which speak to people face-to-face, ie
HM Government, councils, charities and community groups.
3.7 As part of our commitment towards reaching
the more vulnerable in society we are working with The Passage,
a homeless shelter in London. Together we have developed a process
to enable the opening of Cash Card Accounts for clients at the
charity.
3.8 We have also been working closely with
housing associations, as it has been shown that 84% of households
in the social housing sector are within the bottom quartile of
general deprivation nationally.[55]
The most notable project has been CHANGE, which is an innovative
community finance organisation set up to work across 15 housing
associations in London to provide financial services to their
financially excluded tenants. We have supported CHANGE through
involvement in their steering committee, support for their loan
fund, and funding for a community placement.
4. ACCESS TO
AFFORDABLE CREDIT
4.1 Barclays believes it has a responsibility
to provide fair and non-discriminatory access to its credit products
to consumers, provided we are satisfied that they can repay the
borrowing. It is not in our or our customers' interests for us
to lend them funds they cannot afford to repay. One way to achieve
this is to improve the transparency and clarity of our products
and our information, which has been a key focus of Barclays recently.
4.2 It is not in our interests to lend customers
money that they cannot afford to repay. We continue to look for
ways to improve our decision-making. This can be through better
analysis (an area of significant investment over the last 10 years);
better quality data (for example, we are more likely to accept
a customer's request for a new facility if we have updated information
about income); and more information (by finding out about customers'
borrowing from other financial institutions).
4.3 Barclays believes that data sharing
is an essential aspect of responsible lending. We have for some
time shared both negative and positive data on our core cards
and loans portfolios and we were pleased to see similar commitments
being delivered across the industry from the end of last year.
The Treasury Select Committee will be aware of the recently-announced
initiative to share even more data amongst lenders. Barclaycard,
Co-operative Bank, Egg and Abbey will share credit card "behavioural
data", such as information about payments, card usage and
cash advances, with the three credit reference agencies. Many
other lenders, including Nationwide and MBNA, have expressed an
interest in joining the initiative, which is open to all credit
card lenders.
4.4 The more data that can be shared about
people's financial circumstances (subject, of course, to appropriate
safeguards of privacy), the more positive lending decisions that
can be made and the lower the risk of default (which is detrimental
to both borrower and lender). The mainstream industry has made
significant progress in recent years, but gaps remain for which
we need HM Government support. For example, we would welcome moves
to share student loan data, council tax and council rent arrears
data. In addition, lenders do not currently share positive data
on accounts for which they did not receive express consent to
do so—so-called "historic data"—an issue
which is particularly important for longstanding credit card accounts.
We will be looking for this to be addressed by the DTI's consultation,
which we expect to be announced shortly.
4.5 Support for personal customers in deprived
areas[56]
of the UK:
(i) Barclays makes lending decisions based
on a customer's ability to repay, not where they live.
(ii) Since 2000 we have disclosed personal
sector lending data within deprived areas. We are currently the
only bank to do this. To view this data, please visit: http://www.barclays.co.uk/corporateresponsibility/marketplace/productsandservices2.htm
(iii) In 2004, Barclays provided 733,500
current accounts in deprived areas, 6.9% of our total accounts.
The number of Cash Card accounts provided to deprived areas was
45,500, 14.7% of total Cash Card Accounts.[57]
(iv) Unsecured lending to customers in deprived
areas represented 6.4% of Barclays total loan book in 2004.
4.6 We accept that there will be consumers
to whom Barclays and others will be unable to offer mainstream
finance, because it would not be economic to do so. Consequently
our financial inclusion strategy includes support for the community
finance sector, which can provide small amounts of affordable
credit to some of these consumers. We provide local and national
support to Credit Unions and CDFIs across the UK and we recognise
the important role that they can play in tackling financial exclusion.
4.7 In 2004 Barclays gave over £880,000
to community finance organisations via direct grants, community
placements for ex-staff, and funding for research across the sector.
One highly successful element of our direct funding has been the
Barclays Financial Inclusion Fund launched in 2004. This is an
annual fund which looks to support individual community organisations
including Credit Unions and CDFIs which are developing innovative
projects and strategies. In 2004-05 the fund spent almost £100,000
to support projects that looked at raising awareness and increasing
customer numbers in these organisations. The 2005-06 fund of almost
£130,000, themed "working together" is supporting
10 projects from across England and Wales.
4.8 Barclays believes that well-managed,
sustainable Credit Unions are a key element of a strong community
finance sector, crucial if the UK is to tackle exclusion and provide
an alternative to high-cost lenders. We have therefore committed
£400,000 in funding to ABCUL for further development of PEARLS
(See 2.3), a financial monitoring system specifically designed
for Credit Unions. This makes Barclays the largest private sector
supporter of ABCUL. "Barclays has played a unique role in
facilitating many of the changes underway in the Credit Union
movement. Their far-sighted sponsorship of the introduction of
the PEARLS Credit Union Monitoring System in 2001 has been a key
catalyst for change", Mark Lyonette, Chief Executive of ABCUL.
4.9 Regarding the Social Fund, it is uneconomic
for us to provide high volumes of low value loans to people on
very low income or benefit. It is HM Government's responsibility
to provide a safety net for people in this situation and we therefore
support measures to improve the Social Fund to widen access to
budgeting and crisis loans for those most in need.
4.10 However, access to affordable credit
is not always the solution for those people who are unable to
access mainstream credit. For example, East Lancs Moneyline, a
community finance organisation in Blackburn, tells us that around
40% of the people who approach them for finance actually need
money or debt advice, even though they think they need a further
loan or some form of consolidation. This suggests that although
affordable credit is important, it is not always the right solution
for all.
5. FINANCIAL
EDUCATION AND
ACCESS TO
FINANCIAL ADVICE
5.1 Barclays has actively supported the
FSA's National Strategy for Financial Capability and is represented
on the Generic Financial Advice and Borrowing workstreams. We
also have a secondee on the Families workstream.
5.2 From a product perspective, our commitment
is to provide clear and accurate information on our products,
as a basic service to customers. We are continuing our work to
improve transparency following the Treasury Select Committee's
reports on credit card charges and marketing. Members of the Committee
received an update on progress from Gary Hoffman—now Chairman,
UK Banking and Chairman, Barclaycard—in November 2005.
5.3 We believe that the primary responsibility
for the delivery of financial capability should lie with HM Government,
particularly through education in schools. We were encouraged
by the announcement in the Pre-Budget Report that financial capability
would be addressed both in the national curriculum, for children,
and via Local Authorities for adults. We also welcome the commitment
in the Pre-Budget Report 2005 that unclaimed assets are to be
used partly for the delivery of financial education.
5.4 We believe that the FSA has an important
role to play in the delivery of financial capability but it should
not have overall responsibility for it—this is a strategic
role for HM Government. The FSA, however, could continue to perform
a valuable function as a co-ordinator of financial capability
initiatives.
5.5 It is in our commercial interests to
lend responsibly, as we bear the costs of defaulting customers.
We are due to test a new approach to customers in financial difficulty
in the first half of 2006. We will proactively contact a sample
of customers whom we believe may require financial assistance,
with the aim of avoiding this outcome. Separately, our leaflet,
Worried about your finances? is now available in our branches.
5.6 Barclays approach to the provision of
money advice is to work with organisations including the Money
Advice Trust (MAT), Citizens Advice and, through Barclaycard Horizons,
a consortium of bodies to help lone-parents.
— In 2004 Barclays provided £2.55
million towards free independent money or debt advice. We were
instrumental in the foundation of the Consumer Credit Counselling
Service (CCCS) over 10 years ago, and we have supported it since.
— Horizons—your family, your
future is a unique programme run in partnership with One Parent
Families, Citizens Advice, Parentline Plus and the Family Welfare
Association to help disadvantaged lone parents make the transition
out of over indebtedness. Barclaycard is investing £1 million
per year for three years in this programme.
— Separately in 2006 Barclays is planning
to launch a new community investment initiative in this field.
Barclays will be partnering with charities NCH and Help the Aged
in a wide ranging programme of financial awareness, money management
and debt advice projects around the UK. The £3 million programme,
set to run over three years, will target young people, disadvantaged
families and older people.
— Barclays is committed to communities
and operates a number of schemes under which staff volunteer their
time and talents. For example, one team in the Midlands worked
with homeless people to give information about basic bank services
and build confidence about "what happens when you walk through
the doors of a bank".
5.7 In 2005 we supported a Citizens Advice
pilot investigating the delivery of generic financial advice to
the financially disadvantaged, through the CAB network with the
support of Independent Financial Advisers working pro bono.
Following a successful evaluation, Citizens Advice is currently
considering how this programme could be expanded.
5.8 Financial capability for young people:
— Barclays is supporting Kikass,
an innovative youth charity, which is working with young people,
to discover ways in which solutions might be developed to meet
their particular financial needs.
— For the second year, we are supporting
Ker'ching which, with the help of Barclays volunteers,
is bringing basic financial education to 9 and 10 year olds in
over 75 primary schools in and around London.
— Barclays has also developed moneychoices
and MoneySkills,[58]
activity packs for youth leaders to help develop young people's
financial awareness.
— We are supporting a three year Personal
Financial Education Group (Pfeg) project to bring personal financial
education to Pupil Referral Units.
5.9 We look forward to working with HM Government—and
the Department for Education and Skills in particular—the
FSA, and the new Commission on Unclaimed Assets, in developing
a more financially capable population. We also look forward to
engaging our staff even more in the future. We are currently developing
a financial toolkit for them to use when helping deliver financial
capability initiatives in the community.
6. INCENTIVES
AND BARRIERS
TO SAVING
FOR PEOPLE
ON BELOW
AVERAGE INCOMES
6.1 Barclays is an important player in the
market for cash savings. We offer a comprehensive range of savings
products designed to encourage saving which includes, for example,
instant access accounts, longer term savings, accounts for children
and tax-efficient savings via a Cash ISA.
6.2 We recognise the importance of encouraging
the savings habit amongst all our customers, not just those with
substantial sums. We have recently reviewed our cash savings range
and are introducing an improved return for balances from £1
upwards.
6.3 Barclays remains supportive of the concept
of a simplified method of delivering financial advice to customers,
but we do not believe that the FSA's Basic Advice regime provides
a workable solution. We continue to consider alternative options
for simplifying the delivery of financial advice to customers.
6.4 In the last decade, many additional
safeguards and controls have been established in relation to advised
sales of investment products, mostly deriving from regulatory
requirements. The cost of these additional protections has influenced
the cost to the consumer. While the effect will have been proportionately
higher for lower income groups, it remains unclear as to how significantly
these increased costs have impeded lower income consumers' access
to investments compared with other factors such as avoidance of
capital risk. The question of the value of the additional protections
afforded versus the increased cost remains unresolved.
6.5 Barclays trained over 250 Savings and
Investment Specialists and placed them in our branches to provide
a simplified financial selection route, utilising decision trees.
This process was designed to provide customers with a fast, clear
route to a selection of five potential savings vehicles, including
a Cash ISA, a Child Trust Fund, a structured investment product,
an income-producing unit trust and a balanced unit trust. Unfortunately
the simplified process has not secured as great an increase in
consumer engagement as we had sought.
6.6 We fully support the role that Credit
Unions can play in mobilising savings amongst those on benefit
and low income. For example, Streetcred Credit Union in Rochdale
has demonstrated that it is possible for people on benefit to
save money through their "Benefits Direct Account".
This enables customers to build assets—particularly for
emergencies but also for events such as holidays or times of higher
expenditure. Members are encouraged to transfer small value amounts
to their savings account each time a payment is made to their
account. Savings are often as low as a few pence per week or up
to £4-£5 per week. Combined savings are now £63,000.
6.7 We have supported HM Government's initiative
by offering the Child Trust Fund (CTF). We have a large market
share (around 10%) of the CTF market, captured through the provision
of a market-leading product that combines capital protection with
potential for stock market growth.
6.8 Although we did not participate in the
2002 Savings Gateway pilot, we are aware of the expansion of the
scheme in the revised Savings Gateway pilot which commenced in
2005 and will be interested in the findings from it, especially
with regard to the effectiveness of matched funding in incentivising
overall levels of new saving.
6.9 We believe that it is a challenge for
the Financial Services industry, as a whole, and HM Government,
to find a way of explaining the importance of saving, regardless
of income level. This only emphasises the need for increasing
Financial Capability for which HM Government's initiatives will,
in the long term, bear fruit.
7. THE ROLE
OF HM GOVERNMENT,
THE FINANCIAL
SERVICES AUTHORITY
AND OTHER
BODIES AND
ORGANISATIONS IN
PROMOTING FINANCIAL
INCLUSION
7.1 As mentioned in 5.1, Barclays has actively
supported the FSA's National Strategy for Financial Capability
and is represented on the Generic Financial Advice and Borrowing
workstreams.
7.2 Barclays also welcomes the establishment
of both the Financial Inclusion Taskforce and the Financial Inclusion
Fund. Barclays fully supports the recent decision to raise the
maximum interest rate that Credit Unions can charge.[59]
This will prove essential in developing a strong and sustainable
Credit Union sector that can provide a credible alternative to
high-cost lenders. This sector needs to become recognised by consumers
as being an integral part of the financial services sector. We
also agree with the HM Treasury's view—recently articulated
in a speech by Ivan Lewis MP, Economic Secretary to HM Treasury—that
Credit Unions are an important step towards financial inclusion—"they're
great at connecting people with more mainstream opportunities."[60]
7.3 Barclays has been active in the financial
inclusion sector for a number of years and prior to the publication
of the HM Treasury report, Promoting Financial Inclusion,[61]
we were able to advise Treasury officials on the impact of key
issues. We achieved this via a range of initiatives—for
example, during 2003 and 2004 we hosted visits to community finance
projects in Blackburn and Birmingham and held a one day financial
inclusion workshop at our head office for HMT officials. We also
chaired a round-table to explore the role that Credit Unions could
play in tackling financial exclusion.[62]
7.4 To develop a consistent approach and
maximise resources we believe that it is crucial for HM Government
to develop a financial inclusion strategy across all relevant
departments. The Financial Inclusion Taskforce may be able to
play a role in this.
7.5 Barclays welcomes the establishment
of a £120 million Financial Inclusion Fund. However, we believe
that consideration should be given to the Financial Inclusion
Fund being managed through one HM Government Department or body
to maintain consistency. In addition, we believe that the community
finance sector will require investment over the longer term as
we believe it is unrealistic to expect it to become sustainable
during the period of the Financial Inclusion Fund. The money advice
sector, which can never be wholly self-sustaining, will require
a level of permanent Government funding. In the short term we
would recommend focus upon established community finance organisations
who can deliver. It is important for the community finance sector
to build brand awareness and trust and so provide a viable alternative
to high-cost lenders. In the medium term resources could be used
to plug geographic gaps subject to sustainable demand.
7.6 The Post Office Card Account (POCA)
has proved to be popular with, we believe, some 5 million accounts
now open. Barclays is contributing £30 million over five
years towards the running costs of the POCA and the industry a
total of £182 million. We agreed to contribute the £30
million in the belief that the account was a first step towards
financial inclusion. As suggested earlier (in paragraph 3.4),
in view of the popularity of the product, we would urge that a
piece of research is carried out to explore how well the product
meets consumers" needs.
8. THE BENEFITS
OF FINANCIAL
INCLUSION AND
THE EXTENT
TO WHICH
FINANCIAL INCLUSION
MEASURES CAN
CONTRIBUTE TO
COMBATING POVERTY
AND REDUCING
BARRIERS TO
EMPLOYMENT
8.1 The majority of jobs now require potential
employees to have a bank account. Helping the financially excluded
to obtain a bank account can therefore be the first step on the
ladder towards regular, formalised employment. This benefits both
the employee, whose rights in terms of pensions and national insurance,
for example, become formalised, and HM Government, as it enables
the employee to be taxed.
8.2 As mentioned, Barclays is committed
to promoting financial inclusion as a core element in our approach
to corporate responsibility. For this reason, Barclays has had
a dedicated Financial Inclusion Team for the last five years.
In our work to date we have focused on areas where there are specific,
measurable impacts to be made. We have recently begun to measure
the wider social impacts of our financial inclusion work but at
present this is at a very early stage.[63]
8.3 We believe that it would be helpful
if HM Government were to develop a strategic framework for establishing
future socio-economic measures and indicators for financial inclusion.
Assessing this complex area requires the contribution from a range
of experts in addition to the commercial/private sector eg social
academics and economists.
January 2006
45 The Corporate Citizenship Company and ANZ: ANZ
Financial Literacy and Inclusion-Global Benchmarking Report, September
2005. This can be found at: http://www.anz.com/aus/aboutanz/Community/Programs/pdf/Global
BenchmarkingSummary.pdf Back
46
NEF research: aim was to understand how information from Barclays
Management Information systems could be applied to improve transparency
and quality of decision-making data in communities with different
deprivation profiles. Back
47
The PEARLS Monitoring system uses a set of financial ratios to
monitor the financial stability of Credit Unions. These ratios
provide essential tools for monitoring, planning, standardising,
ranking and facilitating supervisory control in Credit Unions.
Each letter in the word PEARLS measures the key areas of Credit
Union operations: Protection, Effective financial structure, Asset
quality, Rates of return and costs, and Liquidity and Signs of
growth. Back
48
We reserve the right not to open bank accounts. Back
49
Until December 2005, Cash Card Account applicants sent their documentation
to our account-opening centre in Glasgow. Back
50
Such as a Housing Association tenancy agreement and Home Office
travel documents. Back
51
The research also found that 60% of Cash Card Account customers
lived in households with total income of £20,000 or less
and that 58% of customers lived in rented accommodation-indicating
that the product is reaching its target market. For other key
findings, please visit http://www.barclays.co.uk/corporateresponsibility/marketplace/productsandservices.htm Back
52
Please see our 2004 Corporate Responsibility Report online at:
http://www.barclays.co.uk/corporateresponsibility/marketplace/productsandservices2.htm Back
53
James Plaskitt MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department
for Work and Pensions, in a written response to a question in
the House of Commons, gave the following answer on 4 July 2005:
"As at 15 May 2005, 4,720,824 Post Office card accounts were
open for the receipt of benefits, pensions and tax credits." Back
54
"Getting to know you-Raising awareness of credit unions",
2003. Back
55
Chartered Institute of Housing Report 2003 "Breaking Free-Financial
Awareness and the role of Social Landlords". Back
56
"Deprived areas" are those areas defined as such by
the Bank of England in its report "Finance for Small Businesses
in Deprived Communities", November 2000. The term "small
businesses" refers to businesses so defined by the British
Bankers' Association. Back
57
http://www.barclays.co.uk/corporateresponsibility/marketplace/productsandservices2.htm Back
58
The packs can be found online at: www.barclays.com/financialinclusion Back
59
Pre-Budget report, December 2005. Back
60
Speech by Ivan Lewis MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, at
the ABCUL conference, at Barclays headquarters at 1 Churchill
Place, London, on 6 December 2005. Back
61
Published by HMT as part of Pre-Budget Report, December 2004.
Full document and press release: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pre_budget_report/prebud_pbr04/assoc_docs/prebud_pbr04_adexclusion.cfm Back
62
1 October 2004. Back
63
For further information please see: http://www.barclays.co.uk/corporateresponsibility/marketplace/financialinclusion.htm Back
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