The FINANCIAL — One in 10 (11%) veterans believe that serving in the armed forces has negatively affected their eligibility for certain financial services, such as obtaining or switching a mortgage and applying for credit, according to a new study from the Barclays Armed Forces Transition Employment and Resettlement (AFTER) programme.
The study, carried out among ex-military personnel who are currently in employment on ‘Civvy Street’, found that 1 in 10 (9%) of veterans said their biggest concern when leaving the forces was securing a mortgage –behind securing a job, settling back into civilian life, finding a place to live and supporting their family financially more widely.
For some veterans, financial challenges began within the barracks. 1 in 5 (20%) found it difficult to access banking and financial services whilst in the military, with over half (55%) worrying about money during their time in service. Yet while financial advice was offered to half (49%) of those serving, just over a quarter (28%) took advantage of the information.
Ashok Vaswani, CEO, Barclays UK, said: “Given the vital role of the Armed Forces in the service of our country, it should be an absolute priority for financial service providers to make sure military personnel are not penalised when applying for a mortgage or a bank account.”
Through the work of the AFTER programme, Barclays is committed to supporting the Armed Forces and veterans community with their financial needs. This includes providing money management sessions to serving personnel as well as offering bespoke Armed Forces lending policies that do not disadvantage military personnel if they’ve been posted abroad. Further, if the military requires them to be away from home, in the UK or an international tour, they can rent out their property without having to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage – saving valuable time and money.
Building on this, today Barclays is announcing at its Armed Forces Day event that it will be launching a dedicated online portal to host all of its existing products and services that are relevant to the military community in one, easily accessible place.
The new portal will provide bespoke information on all the relevant services available to military members, such as free telephone banking hotlines for those on operations and exercises. Over the course of the year Barclays will continue to deliver the bespoke improvements required to ensure current and former serving personnel are given the right access to banking products in line with its commitment to the Armed Forces covenant.
Ashok Vaswani continued: “We want to make it much easier for serving and former military personnel to understand and access our services which is why we are launching a dedicated Armed Forces portal and committing to do more to better serve their needs.”
Stuart Tootal, Head of the Barclays Armed Forces Transition Employment and Resettlement (AFTER) programme, said: “The findings that some former serving personnel are having difficulty accessing basic banking services because of a lack of understanding in the industry are deeply concerning. Our dedicated portal will provide servicemen and women a single place to view products and services that will be of value to them, including our bespoke mortgage and lending solutions, helping to make banking easier for the wider Armed Forces and veterans’ community.”
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