What can banks do to help survivors of financial abuse?

The number of economic abuse cases is rising, and many are unsure what to do to get the help they need.

Leading charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) has seen a 150 per cent increase in its website user numbers since April 2021. 

Financial exploitation can be an invisible and an often overlooked form of domestic abuse.

Commonly this sort of abuse creates a dependency on the abuser by restricting an individual’s access to economic resources.

Not alone: Monzo is among a group of banks that have measures in place to tackle economic abuse

Charities have done tireless work to raise awareness, while financial firms have also improved how they spot signs of economic abuse and try to help people affected.

All banks and building societies have systems in place to help survivors of economic abuse. We look at how it works and how banks and charities can help. 

What is economic abuse?

One in six women in the UK has experienced financial abuse in a current or former relationship, according to the charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA).

Financial abuse refers to the control, exploitation or sabotage of money and finances, while economic abuse is broader and includes things like food, transportation and housing.

Economic abuse might involve the abuser stopping the survivor from working or going to college, or checking receipts and bank statements to monitor spending.

Abusers often continue to control their targets’ ability to get, use and keep economic resources even after they have left the relationship, according to SEA. 

A quarter of women report experiencing economic abuse leaving the abuser.

Reporting abuse to your bank

Approaching your bank about economic abuse might be a daunting prospect, but they can be an important source of support.

All banks are a signatory of the UK Finance Domestic Abuse Code of Practice, which sets out of how banks and building societies should support customers who are victim-survivors of economic or financial abuse. 

Many banks have also partnered with charities directly, which help survivors with the opening of bank accounts and gaining access to banking services. 

Barclays is one such bank, partnering with leading domestic violence charity Refuge. 

Lloyds Banking Group says it has helped more than 6,000 victim-survivors rebuild their finances since 2019.

Banks and building societies have all been trained how to deal with economic abuse, and have teamed up with charities such as SEA, SafeLives and Refuge.

If you’re reporting abuse to your bank, SEA suggests asking to speak to someone in the vulnerable customer team, who will have more specific knowledge to support you.

Ask for the conversation to be recorded on file, to save yourself repeating it in the future.

Similarly, if you feel safe to do so, ask for the abuse to be noted on file. This means the bank should not disclose information to the abuser if they contact the firm.

Banks have specialist teams who are trained to deal with customers experiencing abuse. 

For example, in 2018 Monzo’s ‘Share with Us’ tool was launched to help customers who need to disclose sensitive information in a confidential and discreet manner.

Reporting via this feature means information is only logged with customers’ consent, and is untraceable.

Natalie Ledward, Monzo’s head of vulnerability, access and inclusion, said: ‘Since its launch in 2018, Share With Us has helped us to support our customers in their time of need. 

‘Although people may think their banking app is not the obvious first port of call if they’re experiencing abuse, we can work directly with the customer to point them towards services that can get them the right kind of help..

‘Worryingly, we are now receiving disclosures of abuse every couple of days, so it’s now more important than ever that we raise awareness of tools like this that could help victims when they need it most.’

Starling says it has a dedicated team available 24/7. This month HSBC UK launched a dedicated digital tool to help customers experiencing abuse direct access to specialist agents.

If you’re uncomfortable reporting abuse online, the Co-operative Bank offers an in-branch ‘Safe Space’ where you can contact family or friends. 

Maxine Pritchard, head of financial inclusion and vulnerability at HSBC UK, said: ‘We want to ensure that whenever a customer walks into one of our branches, picks up the phone to us, or visits us online that they can access the care they need. 

‘We have made every one of our branches a Safe Space for those experiencing domestic abuse, and through our No Fixed Address services we have helped people who have left abusive situations and are currently homeless, living in a refuge or sofa surfing.’

Regaining control of your finances

There are other steps banks can take to support you regain control of your finances.

If you’re concerned someone may have access to your Pin number or online banking, your bank can help to change that.

Natwest, HSBC, Starling and Lloyds all say they offer accounts with non-geographical sort codes, to help hide a victim-survivor’s location after they leave.

Banks can also help to de-link your finances if you have a joint account with someone abusive.

Lloyds says it can remove the joint party from the account as well as separate your debt.

Starling Bank recently introduced a feature that enables victim-survivors to switch off intimidating payment references that can accompany bank transfers.

References are intended to describe the nature of a payment like ‘Rent’ or ‘Dinner’, but in cases of economic abuse, they can be used as a weapon to upset or abuse a victim-survivor.

The bank, which partnered with SEA, allows customers to simply hide references from past or future payments made from a certain account.

Charity Wood, head of customer experience at Starling Bank said: ‘Abusive payment references can be the final hurdle for economic abuse survivors to overcome. 

‘They might receive child maintenance payments from their former partner in penny instalments, accompanied by references that remind them of times they were physically or verbally abused.

‘Some survivors choose to forego much needed child maintenance so they can avoid these payment references. That shouldn’t be the case.

‘The personal nature of these references are difficult for banks to spot, which is why we’ve given our customers the ability to hide them within the app in seconds – no questions asked.’

HSBC UK has introduced something similar, allowing customers to report instances of abuse which wouldn’t have been identified as profanity. 

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk