Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
NatWest has unveiled a £40m support package for customers as it looks to cushion the impact from the soaring cost of living.
The bank’s plans include extending the time it takes to repay an unsecured loan or overdraft if payments are missed from 18 months to two years. NatWest will give firms cash back on corporate credit cards used to fuel or charge vehicles. It also plans to provide £5.7m of hardship funding to food bank groups and debt advice charities. The bank is also giving its 59,000 staff a one-off payment of £1,000.
This new funding includes a new, £1million partnership with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). FSB will provide NatWest Group business customers with access to independent support and education to help with the Cost of Living crisis via webinars, and 1-2-1 support over telephone and webchat. The support available will cover areas such as readying your business for funding and managing late payments.
These new measures are in addition to £27.4million of support that NatWest offered to personal customers in 2022, with £22.6milion of that provided through measures such as debt consolidation and fee capping.
Alison Rose, Chief Executive, NatWest Group said “We are committed to listening to our customers and partners to understand where they face the most significant challenges, in turn delivering tailored support that provides help where it is needed most. Over the past year, including today’s new funding, we’ve provided around £40m of cost-of-living support to our personal customers and community partners.”
“Whilst we are not yet seeing significant increases in defaults or people in arrears, this new package of funding and measures is designed to provide on the ground support to communities, breathing space for customers in difficulty and cashback to businesses to offset continued high energy and fuel costs.”
“We know that everyone’s situation is unique, and I encourage customers who are facing difficulty to get in touch with us at the first available opportunity, where one of our highly trained colleagues will be ready to discuss all the options available to help them through this challenging period.”
FSB National Chair Martin McTague said “Our partnership with NatWest comes at a critical point in history as small businesses and the self-employed navigate the cost-of-living crisis. Our members will have access to independent support and education through webinars and 1-2-1 advice over telephone and webchat. This will cover a range of topics – from readying your business for funding to managing the ongoing late payment crisis.”
Theodora Hadjimichael, Chief Executive of Responsible Finance, said “The cost of living crisis is pushing millions of people whose circumstances mean they can’t borrow from mainstream lenders towards loan sharks and very high interest lenders. Affordable, fair credit has never been more needed, and Responsible Finance providers improve their customers’ financial resilience, not only with credit but by helping them strengthen their finances even if they cannot offer them a loan.”
“Community development finance institutions’ (CDFIs’) customers typically borrow around £500 or less and make small amounts of money go a long way. Our members will ensure this welcome support from NatWest goes where it is most needed to help more people improve their financial resilience.”
Emma Revie, Chief Executive at the Trussell Trust, said“The generous contribution to our work from the NatWest Group will support the Help through Hardship helpline and equivalent projects across the UK. This will help us improve access to advice and support people affected by poverty and the cost of living crisis. We are very grateful to the team at the Natwest Group for this opportunity. Thank you so much.”
