Banking for the Poor: Addressing the Needs of Financially Excluded Communities in Newcastle upon Tyne

Abstract

In the UK, many low-income communities have seen the withdrawal of 'mainstream', high-street-based fi nancial service infrastructure from their local areas since the mid to late 1980s, whilst more costly sub-prime lenders have fl ourished, often in their place. There has been a developing search for 'alternative', welfare-oriented rather than profi tdriven solutions to the problem of social and spatial segregation in fi nancial service provision. This paper explores an initiative to create such an alternative, affordable and locally embedded form of personal fi nancial service in a socially disadvantaged urban neighbourhood in the North East of England, Financial Inclusion Newcastle (FIN). This paper refl ects on FIN's successes and failures, the potential limitations of such alternative area-based solutions and the lessons that can be learnt from these, through a focus on three key issues surrounding FIN's demise-the FIN model, its internal functioning and, perhaps most important of all, its relationship with the local community.

Financial inclusion in Colombia: A scoping literature review

“…Financial exclusion hinders social development (Amaeshi, Ezeoha, Adi & Nwafor, 2007;Buckland & Dong, 2008;Fuller & Mellor, 2008;Gómez-Barroso & Marban-Flores, 2013;Horska et al, 2013;Hudon, 2008;Leyshon et al, 2004;Myers et al, 2012;Solo, 2008).…”

“…This relationship arises when inclusion policies create inclusion barriers that consequently generate financial exclusion (Beck & Demirguc-Kunt, 2008;Bernad et al, 2008;Datta, 2009;Demirguc-Kunt & Klapper, 2013;Fuller & Mellor, 2008;Horska et al, 2013;Rosengard & Prasetyantoko, 2011).…”

“…Individuals are excluded from banking services as a result of barriers in the system, and sometimes customers do not want to be part of the banking sector because it is costly and they prefer to remain excluded from it (Beck & Demirguc-Kunt, 2008;Datta, 2009;Fuller & Mellor, 2008;Horska et al, 2013;Solo, 2008). Similarly, analysis of the relationship between inclusion policies and financial exclusion revealed that, when costly inclusion policies are implemented, the higher costs are transferred to customers, limiting their access to financial services and collect money at low costs.…”

“…Similarly, analysis of the relationship between inclusion policies and financial exclusion revealed that, when costly inclusion policies are implemented, the higher costs are transferred to customers, limiting their access to financial services and collect money at low costs. Use of this programme in the UK is especially not eworthy (Fuller & Mellor, 2008;McKillop et al, 2007;Midgley, 2005).…”

“…It can be explained as the strategy of the financial sector and the government to approach those individuals that do not possess banking products (Collard, 2007;Fuller & Mellor, 2008). Financial inclusion originated as a solution to the exclusion of individuals from the banking system using technology for online banking or agents that facilitate financial sector coverage.…”