- Royal Bank of Scotland and Citizens Advice Edinburgh are working together to provide debt support and advice to customers locally and across the UK, with over 2,100 referrals since October 2020.
- Edinburgh based advisers assist in instances where Royal Bank believes that Citizens Advice could offer support that addresses a root cause of financial vulnerability.
- Previous Citizens Advice research found that 1 in 10 families – about 3 million UK households – faced a cost-of-living crisis, unable to cover even basic bills such as food and heating.
Royal Bank of Scotland is today announcing the launch of a report in partnership with Citizens Advice, focusing on support for vulnerable customers. There have been over 2,100 referrals from NatWest and Royal Bank to Citizens Advice since the programme started in October 2020.
Citizen Advice advisers based in Edinburgh have supported teams from across Royal Bank by providing a referral service for customers who contact the bank and express difficulty with debt, benefits, relationships and family.
The advisers assist in instances where Royal Bank believes that Citizens Advice could offer support that addresses a root cause of financial vulnerability.
The project has successfully helped customers across Scotland with complex financial issues and continues until September 2022, by which time NatWest and Royal Bank expect to have helped over 4,000 people with complex financial advice needs. This service is available across NatWest, Royal Bank and Ulster Bank.
The latest report details the impact of the pilot one year on. It found that:
- There have been over 2,100 referrals from NatWest and Royal Bank to Citizens Advice since the programme started in October 2020 with the numbers increasing month on month.
- Over half (59%) of the referrals were from customers who had not accessed Citizens Advice before
- 86% of customers were over 35, compared to the Citizens Advice overall base of 73%
- The top three problems leading to referral are debt (62%), benefits (32%) and relationships (18%)
The report is released as millions of people face up to rising household costs. Previous Citizens Advice research has revealed:
· 1 in 10 UK families – about 3 million households – were facing a cost-of-living crunch this winter, unable to cover even basic bills such as food and heating.
· 1 in 5 of all adults are cutting back on food shopping or turning off the heating, while 1 in 10 anticipate needing to use food banks.
Benjamin Napier, Chief Executive Officer at Citizens Advice Edinburgh said: “We are committed to giving people the knowledge and confidence they need to find their way forward – whoever they are, and whatever they need.
“Together with Royal Bank of Scotland we have been able to help people in the most vulnerable situations in our society across Scotland. The programme is an important way for us to reach more people who may need our help and might not have known about our services.”
David Lindberg, CEO, Retail Banking at NatWest Group said: “Through our partnership with Citizens Advice, we want to deliver personalised support to our most vulnerable customers. Many people who come to us for support have complex financial issues which impact their lives.
“In this current economic environment, it’s more important now than ever to be able to intervene when customers experience early signs of financial difficulty and help them to improve their financial capability.’’
Stephen Timms MP said: “It’s important that people have organisations they can turn to for support when experiencing financial difficulty.
“As we continue to recover from the pandemic and changes to the cost-of-living cause people to experience complex problems they may not have experienced before, it is encouraging that organisations such as NatWest Group and Citizens Advice are working together to meet the wider advice and support needs of vulnerable customers.”
You can access the full report here: Strengthening the safety net: supporting NatWest Group’s most vulnerable customers