Current account offer - £150 cash plus £10 to shelter
The offer, which is exclusively available through the Moneysupermarket or MoneySavingExpert websites, could generate tens of thousands of pounds for Shelter which would help support the charity’s campaigning and frontline services for people without a safe place to call home.
The offer runs from Monday 29th November until midnight on Thursday 16th December.
The exclusive switching offer is in addition to the bank’s commitment to give £5 to Shelter for every home insurance policy taken out since June until the end of 2021.
All of this builds on HSBC’s existing partnership with Shelter through its No Fixed Address scheme, which provides banks accounts to people experiencing homelessness, so they can receive wages, pay rent and access benefits.
Mike Finnegan, HSBC UK’s Head of Customer Experience, said: “We are proud to be supporting Shelter with this innovative offer. Their relentless efforts to fight for those affected by homelessness or bad housing make a real difference to people in some of the most challenging and vulnerable of situations.
“Our work with them continues on a number of fronts, including helping people with no fixed address get access to a bank account without the need for photo ID or proof of address. This is a real game-changer and breaks the cycle of homelessness, helping people become independent.”
HSBC UK has so far opened over 1,750 accounts under its No Fixed Address service.
Andy Harris, Director of Fundraising at Shelter, said: “Building on our successful No Fixed Address partnership, we’re delighted that HSBC UK is able to support even more of our work. Right now, 91 families are made homeless every day in England, so the funds raised by HSBC UK and its customers mean a lot. Every penny raised will help Shelter to be there for people facing homelessness and poor housing this winter and beyond.”
To help take forward the ‘Breaking The Cycle’ campaign3, and outside of any donations from the aforementioned customer offers, HSBC UK has already supported Shelter with a donation of £350,000.
Media enquiries to:
Steve Gracey, HSBC UK Press Office: 020 7991 4118 / steve.gracey@hsbc.com
For the latest news and updates, visit the HSBC UK newsroom
Notes to Editors
1The donation to Shelter will be £10 (+VAT) for each eligible Advance account opened through Moneysupermarket or MoneySavingExpert websites.
2This offer is only for new customers who haven’t had an HSBC or first direct current account since 1 January 2018. To be eligible for an HSBC Advance Account, applicants will need to be approved for £1,000+ arranged overdraft. Offer finishes 16 December 2021.
3To claim this offer, open an HSBC Advance Account as a new customer through Moneysupermarket or MoneySavingExpert websites. Then, within 30 days use the Current Account Switch Service to switch from your old bank (with at least 2 Direct Debits or standing orders) and within 60 days pay at least £1,500 into the account. Once the eligibility criteria has been satisfied, £150 will be deposited into the account.
4Breaking The Cycle aims to address and remove some of these barriers at local level by investing in the programmes and resources needed to make a positive change within the community. This includes:
A better user experience for people who are financially excluded:
- An easier way for those people to find information they need
- More resource at Shelter to help field enquiries
- Better support for partner charities who want to work with financial institutions to tackle financial exclusion. By making it easier for charity caseworkers around the country to set up a bank account for people who don’t have a permanent place to call home, we can help people more quickly, to avoid debt or other financial disadvantages.
Training and resources for financial institutions and their employees:
- Recruiting a National Programme coordinator will help charities and financial institutions to work collaboratively. The Coordinator will create a training programme and resources for financial institutions who want to better support vulnerable customers.
- Building confidence amongst colleagues to understand customer vulnerability and refer customers to the appropriate support available.
- Increased sensitivity to housing issues, which will enable organisations to better support colleagues who may be struggling.
- Utilising Shelter’s Employee Wellbeing support services to benefit financial institutions that take part.
Increased capacity to help those at risk of homelessness:
- Guaranteeing that Shelter can manage the increase in demand for our housing and homeless services, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic
- Ensuring fewer people fall into homelessness as a result of the pandemic (tackling problem debt and helping people to avoid eviction)
- Educating people to understand their housing rights
- Capacity development for partner charities to improve the quality of their housing support and advice to clients
- Working closely with the financial wellbeing team to reduce the likelihood of more people losing their homes as a result of financial exclusion
HSBC UK
HSBC UK serves around 15 million customers across the UK, supported by 26,000 colleagues. HSBC UK offers a complete range of retail banking and wealth management to personal and private banking customers, as well as commercial banking for small to medium businesses and large corporates.
HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 64 countries and territories in our geographical regions: Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. With assets of US$2,969 billion at 30 September 2021, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.
About Shelter: Shelter exists to defend the right to a safe home and fight the devastating impact the housing emergency has on people and society. Shelter believes that home is everything. Learn more at www.shelter.org.uk.
About Shelter’s Winter Appeal 2021: Join Shelter now in the fight against homelessness and bad housing. The people who use Shelter’s services are giving it all they can to fight for a safe home. By giving a little you can help Shelter do a lot - the public’s ongoing generosity means the charity can keeping providing support and advice to thousands of people this winter and beyond. Visit www.shelter.org.uk/donate