With one in 10 veterans believing that serving in the British armed forces has made it harder for them to access financial services and products, Barclays has launched a dedicated digital hub to help them find tailored products.
According to a survey of vets currently employed on 'civvy street', 11% think that serving has negatively affected their eligibility for things like mortgages and credit. For many, financial issues are a major worry, with nine per cent of those quizzed ranking securing a mortgage as their biggest concern when leaving the forces.
For others, financial challenges began within the barracks; 20% found it difficult to access banking whilst in the military, with over half worrying about money during their time in service.
For several years Barclays has operated an Armed Forces Transition Employment and Resettlement (After) programme, offering things such as money management sessions to serving personnel, as well as bespoke Armed Forces lending policies that do not disadvantage customers if they’ve been posted abroad.
The programme now has a dedicated digital portal for the armed forces and veterans' community, promising access to tailored and relevant banking products. The new hub provides bespoke information on all the relevant services available to military members, such as free telephone banking hotlines for those on operations and exercises.
Ashok Vaswani, CEO, Barclays UK, says: "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."
Barclays' decision to freshen up its offering comes in the wake of news that two military veterans are setting up a dedicated bank, called The Services Family, specifically for those that serve or have served in the armed forces.