High Street Banks Follow Barclays’ Lead in Supporting Armed Forces Community
The Armed Forces Covenant roundtable meeting of banking chiefs and ministers at No.10 Downing Street secured commitments from the UK’s biggest high street banks.
These commitments will allow armed forces personnel posted overseas to be able to rent out their homes without facing higher mortgage costs, or having to change their mortgage. Barclays has had this proposed mortgage policy available for a number of years as part of its broader offering for serving military personnel.
Ashok Vaswani, CEO, Personal and Corporate Banking, Barclays said: “It should be a priority for banks to make sure that men and women who serve our country are not disadvantaged in any way as a consequence of their military service. We recognise the personal sacrifice made by our armed forces, so it’s right that our mortgage policy ensures they are not penalised. Having had this in place for several years we are delighted to see other lenders now joining us.”
The commitment will benefit almost 265,000 people in the UK and abroad, including forces families. The Armed Forces Covenant, enshrined in law, is a promise that those who serve or have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly. Barclays became a signatory in 2013 and is a gold award holder in the Employer Recognition Scheme.
Barclays is committed to supporting the armed forces community and has been working to improve the banking services it can offer them for many years. As a result it has already implemented some bespoke products and services including the proposed mortgage policy, free telephone banking whilst posted abroad and workplace banking trials in seven military installations around the UK. These initiatives sit alongside the significant achievements of the Barclays AFTER programme to address the issues faced by veterans – regardless of rank, service or circumstance – in their transition to civilian life. To date, Barclays has helped 3,700 veterans and hired over 300 ex-military personnel directly into the business.
At Barclays we recognise, however, that there is much more we can do and this year we will continue to develop a suite of bespoke banking products and services designed to serve the unique needs of the military community.
