Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northern Ireland - ICAR

Financial Inclusionamongst New Migrantsin Northern IrelandReport by ICAR in collaborationwith Citizens Advice BelfastJULIE GIBBSInformation Centre about Asylum and Refugees

Runnymede:Intelligence for aMulti-ethnic BritainRunnymede is the UK’s leadingindependent thinktank on raceequality and race relations.Through high-quality researchand thought leadership, we:• Identify barriers torace equality and goodrace relations;• Provide evidence tosupport action for socialchange;• Influence policy at alllevels.AcknowledgementsMany people have helped with various stages of thisproject. In Northern Ireland I would like to thank the staffof GEMS, NICEM, Chinese Welfare Centre, Polish WelfareAssociation, Cooltura, NICRAS, Craigavon InterculturalProgramme, Omagh Multicultural Programme, Newry andMourne District Council, Indian Community Centre andstaff in Citizens Advice Bureaus in Eniskillien, Craigavon,Portadown, Londonderry, Newry and Belfast. Weparticularly thank Mick, Liz, Alicja, Peter and Sunita fromCitizens Advice Belfast.The project had an advisory group who have beeninstrumental in assisting with the project direction andtaking the recommendations forward. The advisory groupmembers are listed in Appendix 2.I am grateful to staff and interns at ICAR who haveassisted in various elements of the project, in particularNeil Amas and Gabriela Quevedo who were researcherson this project and were especially instrumental in theevaluation of the practical initiative.This project has been funded by the Calouste GulbenkianFoundation in the UK. I am grateful to Annabel Knight forher support throughout the project.Finally, of course I am indebted to the migrants andstakeholders who gave their time to participating in theresearch.Julie Gibbs, December 2010ISBN: 978-1-906732-67-7Published by Runnymede in December 2010, this documentis copyright © Runnymede 2010. Some rights reserved.Open access. Some rights reserved.The Runnymede Trust wants to encourage the circulationof its work as widely as possible while retaining thecopyright. The trust has an open access policy whichenables anyone to access its content online withoutcharge. Anyone can download, save, perform or distributethis work in any format, including translation, withoutwritten permission. This is subject to the terms of theCreative Commons Licence Deed: Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England &Wales. Its main conditions are:• You are free to copy, distribute, display and performthe work;• You must give the original author credit;• You may not use this work for commercial purposes;• You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.Information Centre about Asylum andRefugees7 Plough Yard, London, EC2A 3LPT 020 7377 9222 F 020 7377 6622E icar@runnymedetrust.orgYou are welcome to ask Runnymede for permission touse this work for purposes other than those covered bythe licence. Runnymede is grateful to Creative Commonsfor its work and its approach to copyright. For moreinformation please go to www.creativecommons.orghttp://www.icar.org.uk/

ContentsFOREWORDEXECUTIVE SUMMARY1. INTRODUCTION2. BACKGROUND3. RESEARCH METHODS4. WHAT WORKS IN PRACTICE? EVALUATION OF A CITIZENS ADVICEBELFAST PRACTICAL INITIATIVE5. KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS6. CONCLUSION7. RECOMMENDATIONS8. NOTES9. REFERENCESAPPENDICES34791719263942454647

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 3FOREWORDAs a foundation with a presence in three European countries and whose founder was himself a migrantand international businessman, we have a long-standing interest in both encouraging greater culturalunderstanding and helping ensuring people from different backgrounds are supported and enabled to fulfiltheir potential.Among other barriers faced by new migrants, we know that they are particularly vulnerable to financialexclusion; they are more often excluded from services due to problems with language, access, affordabilityand stringent requirements on qualification for help. As part of our wider work in these areas, we were keento learn more about the severity of these issues, the challenges and potential solutions to financial exclusionfor this group, and importantly, to test and evaluate a practical model of intervention which could bereplicated across the UK. This report by the Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees (ICAR) and thetoolkit developed by Citizens Advice Belfast are the results of this work.The findings indicate that while excellent progress has been made in financial provision for vulnerablegroups such as migrants – for example the creation of Basic Bank Accounts – there are still significantgaps. The high take-up of the advice service piloted by Citizen’s Advice Belfast shows just that. We shouldbe doing more to improve capacity to respond to these demands – otherwise we all miss out – banks,local communities and businesses, regional & national economies – if new and established migrants arenot financially included. Much essential capacity building within banks and community groups – thosewith greatest contact on financial issues with the target group – can be done through better coordinationof existing services and resources. By improving coordination across banks, government agencies andcommunity groups, practical ways of achieving financial inclusion for migrant groups at a low cost arepossible. There are many ways in which this might work; information and advice sharing, improved referralsystems and practical measures such as training users of financial advice services to provide advice andinterpreting to those in their communities in banks and community centres.In today’s climate, when economic constraint threatens heightened racial sensitivity, it is critical that we findpractical ways to support inclusion and lessen exclusion, whether social or financial, of all groups, includingnew migrants and ethnic minorities. It is likely that demand for financial advice will continue to rise in thecoming months and years and our ability to keep people involved with and actively contributing to oureconomy will be crucial in ensuring we make it through without the need for further cuts or devastating bailouts.The significant minority of migrants residing in Britain should be supported and encouraged to engagewith the financial system here too rather than conducting transactions on the fringes.The Foundation welcomes this report and urges all those who can make a difference in this area to take noteof its recommendations.Andrew BarnettDirectorCalouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK)

4Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen IrelandEXECUTIVE SUMMARYThis summary outlines a research project designedby ICAR 1 in partnership with Citizens AdviceBelfast (CAB) 2 and the Centre for Economic andSocial Inclusion. 3 The project examined the extent,form and consequences of financial exclusionamongst new migrants in Northern Ireland anddevelops policy recommendations to promotefinancial inclusion in the future.The project ran in parallel with a practicalintervention aiming to enhance financial adviceto new migrant communities in Northern Irelandwhich has been run by CAB. Both parts of theproject were funded by the Calouste GulbenkianFoundation. This intervention has been evaluatedby ICAR and the evaluation results are included inthis report. A separate Summary of the practicalinitiative is available.New Migrants and FinancialInclusion in Northern IrelandNew migrants are defined for the purposes ofthis project as those who had come to NorthernIreland since 2000 to take up or seek employment,join family members or seek sanctuary. NorthernIreland experienced low levels of migration until2004 when the A8 4 countries joined the EU andallowed nationals to move around the EU. NorthernIreland experienced high levels of populationchange due to migration after this time especiallyin the employment sectors of construction, carework and food production.New migrants are vulnerable to financial exclusionfor a number of reasons, and have been identifiedas being one of the most vulnerable groups to sufferfinancial exclusion in the UK. Reasons include:• Being located in rural areas and having limitedaccess to services;• Not meeting the conditions to qualify for services;• Not being able to afford services;• Not having enough information aboutservices / not understanding informationdue to a language barrier;• Self exclusion from services due to culturalor psychological barriers.Further details on new migrants and financialexclusion can be found from the project literaturereview available online. 5KEY FINDINGSWhat is the Extent of FinancialInclusion amongst New MigrantCommunities in NorthernIreland?This research has found that the majority of newmigrants, those with a legal right to be in NorthernIreland, have access to a bank account. However,there are a number of barriers for new migrantsin accessing these accounts, and once they areopened there are barriers to accessing otherfinancial products and services. There are alsobarriers to accessing advice and information.EU migrants are on the whole financially includedin that they have access to a bank account andare able to understand the system with the use ofinternet banking. There are a larger number of EUmigrants in Northern Ireland compared to migrantsfrom other countries and this tends to mean thatthere are established networks where the newmigrant can go to find advice and information uponarrival. The most common way of finding adviceabout how to, for example, open a bank accountcomes through friends who will themselves be ableto help or who will direct the newcomer to a servicesuch as Citizens Advice or the Cooltura PolishWelfare Centre.Non-EU migrants who are in high skilledemployment, who speak fluent English and whoplan to settle are fully financially included and haveaccess to bank accounts, loans and credit cardsand have a good understanding of where to findinformation and advice.Those new migrants with no legal status, whoenter with a visa which has now expired or whoare refugees on low incomes are often excludedfrom financial services in Northern Ireland andhave great difficulty in managing day-to-dayfinancial matters. They have little access to andunderstanding of the UK financial services andthose without status are reluctant to approachservices for help and advice unless they are intheir own language and trusted community groups.Taking these factors into account, the researchfound four typologies of financial inclusion amongstnew migrants:

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 5• Totally Excluded• Middle Excluded• Middle Included• Totally IncludedWhat are the Main FactorsAffecting the Level of FinancialInclusion amongst New MigrantCommunities in NorthernIreland and What Are the MainEffects of Financial Exclusion?Although the research found a high level of accessto bank accounts, significant barriers to financialinclusion remain.The main barriers to accessing services for allgroups are:• Language and a lack of translation/interpretation services in the banksand building societies. This is in termsof face-to-face transactions, meetings andwritten information;• Unclear or impossible documentationrequirements;• A lack of coherent policy across thebanks and building societies on who canopen an account and what type of accountthey can hold.The main effects of financial exclusion amongst themigrants appear to be:• Reliance on friends, acquaintances and welfareservices for help with financial services;• Lack of information and take-up of productssuch as high interest savings accounts;• Loss of benefits such as a debit cardwhich can be used online or in the shops;• Reliance on carrying cash around orstoring it in accommodation.Is Current Policy Effectiveand Relevant for PromotingFinancial Inclusion amongstNew Migrant Communities?Access to Financial ProductsBanks. The majority of migrants do gain accessto a basic bank account and this can be seen asa success in terms of financial inclusion policy.However, it is not the whole picture and it is clearfrom this research that basic bank accounts arelimited in their scope and many new migrantsfound them frustrating especially in relation tocards. Access to these accounts can also beslow as migrants do not have the documentationrequired or have to try many providers before theyare accepted. Therefore, whilst this policy is largelyeffective at including new migrants, it is not alwaysrelevant to their needs and more work needs to bedone on improving access to bank accounts.Identification. There is no legislation currentlystating which documentation a bank should requireto enable people to open an account; insteadeach of the financial institutions can decide itsown policy. This leads to a clear confusion fornew migrants who have a range of documentationwhich some banks will not accept but others will.This policy of leaving the banks to decide is noteffective at promoting financial inclusion for newmigrants and hinders the process of opening abank account.Affordable Credit. Whilst credit unions have beenseen as an effective way for low income groups toget access to credit and loans, there were only twomigrants in the sample for this research that wereaccessing their services. This means that in NorthernIreland the credit unions are not reaching migrantcustomers. Low take-up could be for a numberof reasons including a lack of understanding andknowledge of how credit unions operate, a lack ofvisibility on the high street, lack of English skills onthe part of the migrant and the fact that a creditunion account may be seen as being too local andtherefore risky if the migrant intends to stay for ashort period of time only.Access to Advice and InformationThe Citizens Advice Belfast initiative has shownthat there is a high demand for advice andinformation from new migrants and establishedethnic minority communities. This bodeswell for the new policy initiatives around the‘moneymadeclear’ service which is availablein Northern Ireland. Finding advice on how tomanage daily financial matters whilst in the UK isone of the biggest priorities for migrants enteringthe country. The ‘moneymadeclear’ service istherefore likely to be relevant to new migrants, butit needs to ensure that materials and advice areaccessible to those who are not English speakers.The evaluation of the practical initiative clearlyshows that tailoring advice sessions to the needsof new migrants is effective in delivering training

6Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Irelandand helping to resolve issues. The followingare essential elements of a tailored service formigrants:• Advisers from the same community wherepossible;• Interpretation and translation;• Awareness of the needs of new migrantgroups;• Cross referral from other migrant groupsand organizations avoiding duplication;• Awareness of products and servicesincluding welfare benefits relevant tomigrant workers.RECOMMENDATIONSFor Northern Ireland Assembly,Community Groups and CreditUnionsRecommendation 1: Working together withmigrant community groupsWe recommend a closer link-up between banks,government agencies and these communitygroups in terms of:• Funding and capacity building;• Information and advice exchange;• Development of a multi-agency one stopservice of referrals used across communitygroups;• Development of an integrated website formigrants in Northern Ireland.For UK-wide FinancialInstitutions (Banks and BuildingSocieties)This project has shown that banks, buildingsocieties and credit unions could benefit fromdeveloping migrant specific services. We will forma working group with senior banking executivesto create a series of recommendations andbest practice examples which will be publishedseparately to this report specifically aimed at thefinancial services sector in Spring 2011.For the UK Government andAssociated AgenciesRecommendation 1: Development of a UKwideMigrant’s Guide to MoneyThis guide would be based on the successfulParent’s Guide to Money leaflet to be handed outby employers, job centres and on application forthe Worker Registration Scheme.Recommendation 2: Development of basicbank accounts to better serve the needs ofmigrants (and other low income groups) whowish to use the accounts to pay for goods andservices online.Recommendation 2: Advice and support fornew migrants in rural areasCitizens Advice Bureaux look into ways of fundinggreater provision of advice for new migrants acrossNorthern Ireland and should:• Develop a range of advice leaflets in the mainlanguages of migrants in the local areas.• Consider the role of volunteers from migrantgroups who may be able to offer advice on aregular basis.Recommendation 3: Credit unions shouldprovide information tailored toward newmigrants to encourage take-up

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 71. INTRODUCTION‘Financial Inclusion is about ensuring everyonehas the opportunity to access the financialservices and products needed to participate fullyin modern-day society and the economy.’ (HMTreasury 2007)1.2 Research Questions1. What is the extent of financial inclusionamongst new migrant communities in NorthernIreland?Despite the quote above, it is important toemphasise that financial inclusion is not justabout access to products, it is also about havingaccess to advice and help in order to be able tounderstand and access products and use them inthe most appropriate way.This report brings two projects together to explorefinancial inclusion amongst new migrants inNorthern Ireland and examines both access toservices and advice and the effect that they have.This is reflected in government policy in the area,with a long term aim of increasing the number ofpeople with access to a bank account and accessto free impartial financial advice via the new‘moneymadeclear’ service.Although migrants are not deliberately excludedfrom some of these policies, they are not directlymentioned either. This research aims to providerecommendations that will increase financialinclusion of migrants, with specific policy aims formigrants in Northern Ireland and across the UK asa whole.1.1 About the ProjectsThis report outlines a research project designed byICAR in partnership with Citizens Advice Belfast(CAB) and the Centre for Economic and SocialInclusion. The project examined the extent, formand consequences of financial exclusion amongstnew migrants in Northern Ireland and developspolicy recommendations to promote financialinclusion in the future. The research phases of theproject are funded by the Calouste GulbenkianFoundation.The project also ran in parallel with a practicalintervention aiming to enhance financial advice tonew migrant communities in Northern Ireland whichhas been run by the CAB, also funded by theCalouste Gulbenkian Foundation. This interventionhas been evaluated by ICAR and the evaluationresults are included in this report.2. What are the main factors affecting the levelof financial inclusion among new migrantcommunities in Northern Ireland and whatare the main effects of financial exclusion?3. Is current policy effective and relevant forpromoting financial inclusion among newmigrant communities?4. What complimentary or alternative policiesor practical initiatives may improve financialinclusion amongst new migrants in NorthernIreland (and across the UK)?Further information on the project aims, objectivesand methodology is in Chapter 3.1.3 DefinitionsThe following terms will be used throughout thisreport and are defined for the purposes of thisreport as follows:New Migrant – A person from outside of theUnited Kingdom or Eire who has come to NorthernIreland for at least six months to work, join a familymember or claim asylum.Financial Inclusion – Financial Inclusion is aboutensuring that everyone has the opportunity toaccess the financial services and products neededto participate fully in modern day society and theeconomy (HM Treasury).Financial Exclusion – Those without access to theservices and products needed to participate fullyin modern day society and the economy.Banks – The term banks will be used to denoteformal financial service providers including allbanks and Building Societies available in NorthernIreland.Financial Services – This included banks andbuilding societies but also encompassesinsurance, mortgage and other financial providersas well as Credit Unions.

8Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Ireland1.4 About the ReportChapter 2 briefly examines the background to newmigrants and financial inclusion in Northern Irelandand looks at the policies in place to promotefinancial inclusion. It also contains evidence frommeetings with key stakeholders working withmigrants across Northern Ireland.Chapter 3 gives details of the project aims andobjectives and the methods that were used in theresearch and evaluation.Chapter 4 is about the practical financialinclusion initiative managed by Citizens AdviceBelfast and details the findings, conclusions andrecommendations from the project evaluationcarried out by ICAR.Detailed research findings are then presentedin Chapter 5 including a typology of financialinclusion amongst new migrants and in-depthanalysis of key barriers to inclusion.Chapter 6 brings findings from the practicalinitiative and primary research together to offerconclusions on the extent of financial inclusion ofnew migrants in Northern Ireland and providesanswers to the research questions set out above.Finally, a set of concrete recommendations are laidout in Chapter 7.

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 92. BACKGROUNDBasic financial services are taken for grantedby the majority of people in the UK and arebecoming increasingly important tools of modernlife. Personal financial services have becomeprogressively integrated with commerce, utilitiesand welfare and benefit payments, offering moresuitable services and increasing savings tocustomers. Despite this, a significant minority of theUK population are excluded from accessing theseservices and suffer inflated costs and difficultyaccessing other markets and services. Researchsuggests that financial exclusion is most commonamong disadvantaged groups, including ethnicminorities and migrants (BMRB 2006; FSA 2000).Consequently, financial exclusion contributes tomultiple disadvantage, adding to the barriers thatpeople face to wider inclusion in society. Tacklingfinancial exclusion, therefore, is a question oftackling marginalisation and vulnerability as well asmarket failure.There has been an increase in migration toNorthern Ireland over the last decade, notably fromEastern Europe since 2004. A considerable portionof this migration is short-term and from countriesof origin with no significant migration history tothe region. It is difficult to discern that this newmigration has manifested itself in the developmentof ‘new communities’, except for amongst the Polishpopulation (Jarman 2007). Consequently, tailoredservices and support for these groups are unlikelyto be readily available as provided by statutory,voluntary or community organisations and many areemployed on restrictive contractual arrangements.These and other factors, such as unfamiliarity withlocal financial systems and processes, make newmigrants particularly vulnerable to problems offinancial exclusion (Atkinson 2006).2.1 Definition of newmigrantsThis research has adopted an inclusive definition ofnew migrants to include not just migrant workers,but also their family members who may not beworking, as well as asylum seekers and refugees.We define a new migrant to Northern Ireland as:‘A person from outside of the United Kingdom orEire who has come to Northern Ireland for at leastsix months to work, join a family member or claimasylum.’There are significant differences between thesegroups in financial inclusion. Clearly those who arenot legally entitled to be in the UK are at a muchhigher risk of exclusion than those here legally withdocumentation. This research has included bothgroups of migrants in order to find out the risks andaffects of financial exclusion on migrants whicheverroute they take to come to the UK.2.2 Definition of financialinclusionAlthough there is no one agreed definition offinancial inclusion in the UK, this research hasused the UK Treasury definintion which states that:‘Financial inclusion is about ensuring everyone hasthe opportunity to access the financial servicesproducts needed to participate fully in modern daysociety and the economy.’ (HM Treasury, 2007:5)In addition to this Rahim et al. identify that financialinclusion is widely constituted of two elementswhich are; 1) good financial decision making(financial literacy) and; 2) access to financialservices.Khan identifies five areas which mostcommentators in the UK include when talkingabout financial inclusion: Banking, Credit,Insurance, Savings and Advice (Khan, 2008:4)and goes on to state that the benefits of beingfinancially included are;‘not limited to having more financial goods andservices or even greater levels of income ...financial inclusion can result in enhanced lifechances and personal wellbeing on top of anyfinancial advantages.’ (Khan, 2008: 57)This research has focussed on the five areas offinancial inclusion mentioned above, although thefocus was narrowed down in the original researchto examine access to bank accounts, credit,savings and advice as they were all mentionedfrequently during the interviews with migrants andstakeholders. Issues that particularly stood outhave been given more attention in the researchfindings chapter below. They are; accessingbank accounts on arrival, language problems,identification issues and understanding productsavailable. There was an extremely low take upof insurance amongst the migrants interviewed.The advice element has been tested during the

10Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Irelandpractical money advice initiative and Chapter 4below reports on this and gives a guide to whatworks when providing money advice to migrantgroups.2.3 Financial InclusionUK wide financial inclusion policy was introducedunder the previous Labour administration as aresponse to a perceived policy need to tacklewider social exclusion. The UK policy implementedby the Labour government in 2007 had the overallaim that:‘.. everyone should be able to manage their moneyeffectively and securely, through both havingaccess to a bank account and the confidence andability to get the most from it.’ (HM Treasury, 2007:11)This can be divided into two policy aims: accessto a bank account and having the education(capability) needed to use it effectively.2.3.1 Access to a bankaccountOne of the major issues that has been addressedby government policy has been to get as manypeople as possible to have access to at leasta basic bank account so that they can accessfinancial services such as the use of direct debitsto pay for bills and the ability to pay welfarebenefits electronically.The drive to get more UK citizens to hold basicbank accounts has been seen as a success forfinancial inclusion policy with only 900,000 nownot having access to a bank account of anykind in 2007/8 compared to 2 million in 2002/03.According to British Bankers Association statistics500,000 basic bank accounts are opened eachyear and in addition around 500,000 basic bankaccounts have been upgraded to fully featuredaccounts since 2003 (BBA, 2009).An IPSOS-MORI survey conducted for theConsumer Council in Northern Ireland found that:‘Eight per cent of consumers in Northern Ireland donot have a current account or a savings account.This is four times the average of the “unbanked”adults in the United Kingdom (two per cent).(Consumer Council, 2010)The same report states that “The percentage ofconsumers with a current account has increasedover the last ten years, from 68 per cent in 2000to 89 per cent in 2010. However, the figure forsavings accounts has decreased over the last tenyears, from 52 per cent in 2000 to 34 per cent in2010” (Consumer Council 2010: 27). However,merely having access to a basic bank accountdoes not guarantee financial inclusion and manypeople, especially those on low incomes are stillhaving to rely on expensive door stop lenders,paying for goods and services with cash and nothaving access to the more widely used servicessuch as payment cards which are taken forgranted amongst people with current style bankaccounts.2.3.2 New Migrant access to abank accountFor a new migrant, a basic bank account is oftenthe first step on the ladder to becoming financiallyincluded in the UK. New migrants clearly come tothe UK with a wide range of credit and financialhistories. For some it may be the first time thatthey have come into contact with a formal financialinstitution (see Datta, 2007), others may be holdersof multiple bank accounts in their home countriesand have extensive experience of negotiating thefinancial system.However, even though there are now transnationalbanking institutions such as HSBC and Santander,all countries have slightly different financialregulations and new migrants will have to negotiatethese to gain access to the system. In the UK,money laundering regulations, for example, putparticular emphasis on identification requirementswhich can make opening even a basic bankaccount difficult for those in multiple occupationhousing (a large number of new migrants will be insuch housing) and with no bills in their own names.Most migrants will overcome these hurdles as theysettle into the UK, however the hurdle mentionedmost in this research and others (Mawhinney2009, Atkinson 2006 and Datta 2007) that is muchmore difficult to overcome is the language barrier.For those migrants who come to the UK withlittle or no English skills opening a bank accountis achievable providing they have the correctdocumentation, but understanding what thataccount can offer them is difficult.This research found that migrants in this groupturned to friends, colleagues or local culturalgroups for help in opening accounts and attendingto immediate problems, but had little knowledge ofthe type of account that they had or what it could

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 11do for them. As these migrants settle into life inthe UK and become eligible for a current accountwhich has the potential to offer more financialservices as well as access to credit and savingsaccounts, their potential to understand theireligibility to move forward in their financial affairs isvitally important. Many commentators have arguedthat merely having access to a basic bank accountdoes little to financially include a person in the longterm. Khan, for example, argues that basic bankaccounts may lead to people being ‘underbanked’instead of ‘unbanked’ and claims that;“Basic bank accounts are a good first step, butit is also important to consider how to encourageor incentivise people to upgrade these accounts”(Khan 2008:26).Learning to speak English is often a long andprotracted process especially for those migrantswho are working 6 day weeks and who are living inmultiple occupancy housing with fellow migrantsspeaking their national language. This languagebarrier is then likely to prevail for a long time afterthe migrant has arrived in the UK. Even whennew migrants do enter the UK with a high levelof English language skills the different system ofbanking and the different terminology may make ithard for them to understand their bank accounts.As Atkinson points out, even those who have anexcellent command in English can feel unconfidentin talking about financial concerns (Atkinson 2007).The language barrier may be further protracted forthose migrants living in rural areas with little accessto or choice of banks which are likely to only beopen during the working day. (See ConsumerCouncil 2010). There is little research evidenceof migrants use of internet banking which has thepotential to overcome some of these barriers andfurther work is needed in this area to investigatethe potential of internet banking for migrant groups.In summary, as Rahim et al. point out:‘... the vast majority of new migrants in the UKhave low incomes and are more vulnerable tofinancial exclusion because they face difficultiesin accessing and using financial services that aredue to supply and demand factors.’ (Rahim et al2009:7).These supply and demand factors can be listed asshown in Table 1 at the top of the next column onthis page.Supply SidePoor physical access tobanksLack of suitableproducts that meetmigrant needsStrict identificationrequirementsFailure to translateinformation into differentlanguagesDiscriminationHigh bank chargesUnsuitable bankingservice hoursDemand SideDistrust of banksPreference for informalfinancial arrangementsLow previous use offinancial servicesLow levels of financialliteracyDifficulty inunderstanding EnglishExperiences of andexpectations ofdiscriminationCountry of origin/ethnicity2.3.3 Financial educationThe policy for financial education of consumers isset out in ‘Financial Capability: the GovernmentsLong Term Approach’ which was published in2007. Rahim et al. (2009: 37) point out that thedocument sets out three long term aspirationswhich are that:• All adults in the UK have access to high qualitygeneric financial advice to help them engagewith their financial affairs and make effectivedecisions about their money• All children and young people have accessto a planned and coherent programme ofpersonal finance education• A range of government programmes isfocussed upon improving financial capability,particularly to help those who are mostvulnerable to the consequences of poorfinancial decisions.This has led to a range of policies including a £6million fund in 2007 for the then Learning and SkillsCouncil to pilot money advice outreach servicesand a range of initiatives across other governmentdepartments aiming to educate specific groupsof people in financial management. In 2003the Financial Services Authority launched their‘National Strategy for Financial Capability’ whichstates that:

12Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Ireland‘Financial capability means being able to manageyour money, keep track of your finances, planahead, make informed decisions and stay up todate about financial matters.’ (FSA 2009)Further to this a 2008 report by the RunnymedeTrust looking at financial exclusion and ethnicitystated the importance of financial capability:... being financially capable is a basic requirementfor financial inclusion.’ (Khan 2008:15)The government also introduced and funded aFinancial Inclusion Taskforce formed in 2005 tomonitor government financial inclusion objectivesand make recommendations for policy action.The taskforce is made up of a number of financialinclusion experts and researches financialinclusion issues providing evidence for theknowledge base of financial inclusion in the UK.The taskforce is a part of HM Treasury and hasplayed a major role in the success of the increaseduptake of basic bank accounts.More recently, in March 2010 a new FinancialServices Bill was passed which contains the aimof providing better information and support forconsumers including the launch of a new serviceprovided by the specially formed ConsumerFinancial Education Body titled ‘moneymadeclear’.Money made clear is a comprehensive service witha telephone advice line and web pages containingvarious guides to bank accounts, credit and moneymanagement. This is all for free and is designed tobe independent of any financial institution.In May 2010 the Labour government was replacedby the Conservative / Liberal Democrat coalitionand to date their financial inclusion policies havenot dramatically changed from the previous Labourgovernment. The Financial Inclusion Taskforce willcontinue to exist until April 2011 and the ConsumerFinancial Education Body is also set to continueits work on financial education. The focus then hasvery much stayed in the financial education arenaand this looks set to continue in the current austerefinancial climate.2.3.4 Financial capability andnew migrantsNew migrants are not specifically targeted in thefinancial capability policies described above.The barriers to accessing bank accounts mayalso hamper a new migrant’s financial capability,especially in terms of language barriers. In arecent report, Mawhinney presents researchevidence from a project examining Black andMinority Ethnic people’s ability to access moneyadvice. Mawhinney finds three sources of financialadvice for these groups: Financial Institutions;Community Sector and Friends/family, noting that:‘A lack of English language skills inhibitsboth recent migrants and longer establishedBME people from fully communicating with,understanding and taking up those elementsof financial advice and other services that arecurrently on offer.’ (Mawhinney 2010:3)The research also noted that trust is a majorissue for BME groups who are more likely totrust someone giving them advice from their owncommunity in their own language than someonefrom an outside body. This includes interpretersin banks, where a number of banks in areas witha high population of BME people had employedinterpreters which had a positive impact onpeople’s relationship with the bank (Mawhinney2010).Another general initiative to help with financialcapability is the ‘Parents Guide to Money’, abooklet designed for every new parent and givenout by midwives with information about financialplanning, a guide to budgeting and saving for thefuture. This was evaluated positively in May 2009and was found to be particularly effective for newparents in vulnerable groups, including increasingknowledge and confidence amongst low incomeand BME groups (BMRB, 2009). The parent’s guideto money is available in English and Welsh onlyand is likely to be difficult for those new migrantparents who speak little English.A number of initiatives designed to assist lowincome groups with saving money for thefuture such as the Savings Gateway have beenscrapped by the coalition government in the June2010 budget. Although there were a number ofconditions on the Savings Gateway scheme thatmeant migrants, especially those from outsidethe European Union would have been excluded,all migrants who give birth to a child whilst in theUK will be affected by the announcement that thecoalition has also stated that they will cease toadd government money to the Child Trust Fund inDecember 2010.New migrants looking to access financialeducation may then be hampered in a numberof ways. Language is the obvious barrier whichmakes understanding financial matters difficult orimpossible. Access to services such as the money

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 13advice lines run by CFEB who offer an interpretingservice through Language Line is one option;however migrants are often unaware of suchservices unless they specifically ask an existingservice for help and get referred. Finding the timeto access financial training sessions is also likelyto be low down on the priority list of a migrantworking 6 days a week. The Citizens AdviceBelfast practical initiative described in Chapter 4did however find demand for their money outreachsessions and these included financial educationtraining sessions. Services can therefore betailored to fit migrant needs, but the extra costs ofproviding them in other languages is a clear issuein these financial times.2.4 Advice Agencies andNGOsThere are many other agencies offering directfinancial advice and assistance to migrantgroups. Citizens Advice Bureaus across the UKdeal with many migrants and offers financialas well as generic help to them. A range ofleaflets are available on the Citizens Advice webpages in Northern Ireland 6 include fact sheetsfor migrants on rights and financial informationsuch as dealing with debt available in a range oflanguages including Chinese, Polish, Portugueseand Lithuanian. Advice NI 7 is another free toaccess advice service operating from Belfast andit also has versions of the web site available in thelanguages above. The Law Centre for NorthernIreland 8 also has a range of booklets on migrantworker rights on its web pages. The ConsumerCouncil 9 which is mentioned in more detail in thesection below also has a range of publications formigrants online in different languages.Migrant organisations exist across the UnitedKingdom and offer support to migrants on a widerange of issues, usually in their own languages andin local community centres. These organisationsmay provide specialist sessions on financialguidance or generic training on financial capability,or they may refer migrants onto other services inthe area. These organisations are often the onlyplace that migrants go to get advice as they trustthe advisers who are a part of the community orwho are familiar with their cultural background andlanguage.2.5 Banks and FinancialServicesBanks themselves have a number of initiativesunder the financial inclusion agenda and they workacross the UK to offer excluded and vulnerablegroups better access to their services. Thesegroups include those on low incomes, disabledcustomers, single parents and ex offenders,although they do not currently include migrantcustomers. Some banks do offer a range ofinformation leaflets in different languages, andhave specific accounts for migrant customerssuch as the HSBC Passport account. However,these accounts tend to have a charge associatedwith them and are not generally accessible to lowincome migrants who are only able to access abasic account.2.6 Financial Inclusion inNorthern IrelandWhilst the Northern Ireland Assembly has no directcontrol over immigration legislation, new policiesdo reflect the changing diversity in the population,most recently with a consultation documentoutlining a ‘Programme for Cohesion, Sharing andIntegration’ which states that:‘Immigration matters have substantial implicationsfor not only Government here – as servicedeliverers but also for people living here underimmigration control. Consequently these issuesare a legitimate concern of the Executive.’ (NIExecutive 2010: 1.12)The document goes on to state the importanceof new migrants to the wider society of NorthernIreland:‘The arrival of people from across the globe offersthe potential to change the context within whichthe divisions of the past have remained. It providesthe opportunity for us to develop a better futurefor our “traditional” sections of the communityand to integrate new arrivals into a more cohesivesociety.’ (NI Executive, 2010: 3.3)As well as developing a policy around cohesion,Northern Ireland also has a Race RelationsStrategy and a Migrant Workers Strategy.Whilst there is no specific financial inclusion policycovering Northern Ireland, there are a numberof initiatives which have been launched, mainlyin the area of financial capability and focussingon getting people out of social exclusion throughfinancial management. One example of this is

14Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Irelandthat all school children in Northern Ireland arenow taught money management as a part of thecurriculum which has included the training ofteachers.The Consumer Council in Northern Ireland hasresponsibility for providing people with the skillsthey need to manage their money. The councilclaims that they “do this by developing policy,carrying out research and running informationcampaigns on financial capability, inclusionand financial markets such as banking andinsurance.” 10 This includes the management of aNorthern Ireland Financial Capability Partnershipwhich is funded by CFEB.Whilst migration into the UK as a whole hasremained high across the last decade, NorthernIreland has experienced significant populationchange as a result of migration. Prior to 2004population growth across Northern Ireland was at arate of 0.4% each year but this increased to around1% per year between 2005 and 2008. Migrants arenow working in industries across Northern Irelandespecially in the food processing, agricultural andconstruction sectors, in fact Jarman states that:‘In overall UK terms one in thirty A8 migrantshas obtained work in Northern Ireland, but inthree sectors, food processing, construction andmanufacturing around one in ten A8 migrantsworking in the UK is based in Northern Ireland.’(Jarman, 2005: 8)A recent report by the National Children’s BureauNorthern Ireland highlights the change in thepopulation of Northern Ireland in the past 10 yearsstating that:‘The composition of Northern Ireland society is ina process of rapid change as migration of peopleinto Northern Ireland increases. As confidencein the peace process has developed with theexpansion of the European Union, more peopleare moving to Northern Ireland than ever before.’(Geraghty, 2010: 1)Migrants move to Northern Ireland for a wide rangeof reasons, with most come to work or join familymembers who are working. Rahim et al. report that:‘Pull factors or reasons why migrants are attractedto Northern Ireland include: opportunitiesfor earning a higher salary and for careerdevelopment, a better standard of living, andthe active recruitment process for specificoccupations.’ (Rahim et al., 2009:19)According to the Northern Ireland Statistics andResearch Agency (NISRA) migration statistics,there were around 23,500 people coming intoNorthern Ireland between July 2008 and June 2009which was less than in the previous three years.With 21,400 people leaving the country in the sameperiod, net migration was 2,100 (NISRA 2010). Incomparison the UK as a whole received 562,000people in the same period (ONS 2010). Across theUK population growth has been highest in NorthernIreland and England in the year 2008/2009 and inNorthern Ireland this is accounted for mainly bymigrants coming to work (ONS 2010).2.6.1 Demographiccharacteristics of newmigrants in Northern IrelandThe migrant population in Northern Irelandexpanded after the so called A8 11 countries joinedthe European Union in 2004 allowing workersfrom these countries ‘free movement’ to come tothe UK and find employment without restrictionsother than applying for a workers registrationdocument. All workers have to apply for a nationalinsurance number when they begin work andthis provides some statistics on the numbers ofmigrant workers in a given area. It should be notedhowever, that migration statistics are patchy anddifficult to gather as there is no one systematic wayof counting people as they enter the country andsettle into the community (Rahim et al 2009).Evidence suggests that the number of migrants inNorthern Ireland peaked between 2002 and 2007with a larger increase after 2004 (NISRA 2008).The 2009 statistics however show that this trend isnow starting to decline, with the number of nationalinsurance numbers issued in Northern Irelanddeclining by 8% between March and August 2010,and a decline in A8 national registrations of 35%between 2008 and 2009 (NISRA August 2010).There has been little research as to why people areleaving Northern Ireland, or where they are going,however the current economic recession suggeststhat migrants who are losing their jobs are eitherreturning home or going elsewhere to look for work.Graph 1 below shows the net migration to NorthernIreland between 2000 and 2009.

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 15Graph 1: Net Migration to Northern Ireland 2000 - 2009Although there are migrants from a wide range ofcountries in Northern Ireland, in recent years thenew migrants tend to have come from EasternEurope, with Poland, Lativan and Lithuaniannationals being the largest groups registeringunder the workers registration scheme in 2009/10across the UK (ONS 2010).Although new migrants tend to spread acrossNorthern Ireland, population growth is particularlyhigh in the Dungannon and Craigavon areaswhich have the largest number of meat and foodprocessing factories and are home to a largenumber of new migrants (NISRA 2010).As a part of this research, ICAR interviewed 15individuals who work closely with migrant groupsacross Northern Ireland. 12 This has enabled apicture to emerge of the current situation ‘on theground’ for new migrants.It is clear that different areas of Northern Irelandhave different patterns of migration and that somenationalities were particularly likely to settle incertain areas. For example, whilst there is a fairlyeven spread of Polish migrants across the country(with the largest concentration in Belfast), there isa small but distinctive community of Portuguesemigrants settled in the Portadown area. The mostcommonly mentioned nationalities were Polish,Chinese, Lithuanian, Latvian and Portuguese.Migrants outside of Belfast were most likely to beworking in the meat and food processing industryor construction, although this work was diminishingat the time of the interviews due to the recession.Several stakeholders commented on the relativestability of jobs in the food processing sectorduring the current recession. However, migrantworkers are in every sector in Northern Ireland andnot always in low paid positions (see also Jarman2007). Sometimes job types can be distinguishedby nationality, for example the Chinese and Indianmigrants are likely to work in the restaurant trade,Filipinos in the health service and Portuguese inmeat processing.There was an agreement amongst stakeholdersthat more male than female migrants come toNorthern Ireland and that they are often single.However, this is not borne out in the migrationstatistics which show a roughly equal gender mixamongst migrants (Rahim et al 2009). If the menhave families they tend to come and join them inNorthern Ireland and settle into the community,attending local schools.

16Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen IrelandAcross agencies the main problems for migrantworkers were (in no particular order);• Housing and employment rights• Understanding benefits entitlements and fillingin forms to claim• Lack of English language skills• Destitution due to unemployment or lack oflegal status• Health and access to a GP2.7 SummaryFinancial inclusion policy in the UK focuses on lowincome groups with the accessibility of basic bankaccounts being the key government policy to getthese groups on the ladder to being financiallyincluded. There is no mention of migrants per se inthese policies. Migrants clearly have a differing setof needs to other low income groups including alack of knowledge about the UK financial systemsand a possible large language barrier. Migrants’transient position also makes them vulnerableto a lack of take up of financial products whichcould enhance their chances of integration intoUK society and improve their future financialprospects.Migration to Northern Ireland has been significantsince 2004 with a surge in migrants coming tothe country from Eastern Europe. These migrantsare often working in rural areas with long hoursand have little access to the traditional banksduring working hours. Their access to financialservices such current accounts, savings accountsand credit is limited and furthering such accesscould greatly enhance their inclusion into NorthernIreland society. Whilst financial inclusion andcapability policies have the potential to assist newmigrants to become financially savvy in the UKthey must be tailored to migrant’s specific needsif this vital section of the population are to be fullyincluded.

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 173. RESEARCH METHODSThe project has involved a range of methods whichare described briefly in this chapter.3.1 Aims and ObjectivesThe central aim of this research is to identify themain issues affecting financial inclusion amongstnew migrant communities in Northern Ireland andexplore strategies for addressing these issues.From this principle aim emerge the followingobjectives:• Scope the extent of financial inclusion amongstnew migrant communities in Northern Ireland;• Assess the causes and effects of financialexclusion and the barriers to greater inclusion;• Explore the efficacy of formal financialproducts for this group and the use ofalternative informal financial services amongstmigrant communities;• Evaluate the relevance of existing financialinclusion policies, including initiatives specificto Northern Ireland and the UK Treasury’sFinancial Inclusion Action Plan 2008-11,for theparticular situation of new migrantcommunities;• Explore complimentary or alternative policyapproaches and practical initiatives to addressthe main issues of financial inclusion asidentified;• Provide evidence on the issues of financialinclusion amongst new migrants applicableto the UK more generally and develop a pilotworking model for the financial inclusion of newmigrants.3.2 Methods and FieldworkThis project has been managed in two partsrunning in parallel, firstly research into the directexperiences of new migrants and secondly anevaluation of a practical initiative aiming to promotefinancial inclusion for new migrants run by CitizensAdvice Belfast.3.2.1 ResearchThe research side of the project commenced inNovember 2008 with a comprehensive literaturereview 13 undertaken by the Centre for Social andEconomic Inclusion. A series of meetings anddiscussions with stakeholders in Northern Irelandwere held in early 2009. These meetings not onlygave an insight into current issues for migrantworkers, they also provided contacts for theinterviews.Sixty four face-to-face interviews with new migrantstook place across Northern Ireland and these wereconducted by the ICAR team with the assistanceof interpreters where necessary. A topic guidewas followed during the interviews which lastedfor around 45 minutes. Migrants interviewed weregiven £20 for their time.Migrants were recruited through the stakeholderswhere possible and then through snowballingas the research went forward. It should be notedtherefore that the migrants that were interviewedwere from a broad range of backgrounds,nationalities and immigration status. 14 Allinterviews were tape recorded and transcribed bythe research team.3.2.2 EvaluationA range of methods were used in the evaluationincluding:• A review of documents;• Monitoring of the data collected by CAB;• Interviews with service users, project staff; andwith representatives from key partner agencies,including referral agenciesA monitoring and evaluation framework wasdeveloped in collaboration with Citizens AdviceBelfast before the project began to inform thedevelopment of its activities.Two rounds of interviews where conducted withservice users: the first were in depth interviewsconducted face to face in September 2009 andthe second were shorter follow up interviewsconducted over the phone in March-April 2010.Users represented the following nationalities:Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Indian and Filipino.Ideally we wanted to interview the widest possiblerange of users in terms of nationality, gender andage, also ensuring that we covered sufficientlyusers assisted by both advisers. The purpose ofthis was to capture information from users whomight potentially have had different experiencesbased on their social and demographic attributes.

18Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen IrelandTime constraints and availability of users onlyallowed interviews with 3 males and 11 females onthe first round of interviews.On the second round users were interviewed bytelephone, with 4 of the original interviewees fromround one. This was below the original target ofinterviewing 6 users on the second round, howeverit proved impossible to trace some respondentsand some did not want to take part.Interviews and meetings with project staff wereheld on September 2009 and also as a follow upin March 2010. Phone interviews with two referralorganizations were also conducted.The initial interviews with service users constitutedthe baseline data against which the outcomeswere evaluated with the follow up interviews.Although the data provides in-depth insights intothe perspectives of service users from five countryof-originliving in Belfast, generalisations cannot bemade from the data to the whole target populationof this practical initiative.The interview process followed ethical standardsapproved by City University’s Research EthicsCommittee. 15 Client data was systematicallycollected by CAB using their Case RecordingSystem database, assigning a separate projectcode for this Financial Inclusion initiative.For the qualitative users interviews (in both rounds)one topic guide was used uniformly with allinterviewees. On the second round of interviewsthe topic guide was shortened to focus onindicators of change (impact).

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 194. WHAT WORKS IN PRACTICE?EVALUATION OF A CITIZENSADVICE BELFAST INITIATIVE4.1 IntroductionThis Chapter focuses on an evaluation 16 of a practicalinitiative that ran alongside the research project. Theinitiative was funded by the Calouste GulbenkianFoundation and managed by Citizens Advice Belfast.The aim of the project was to ‘Prevent financialexclusion of new migrants and ethnic minoritiesby enabling them to improve their financial literacyskills and their access to financial services inBelfast.’ In order to achieve this aim Citizen’s AdviceBelfast recruited two Financial Inclusion Officersand a Project Administrator to develop and pilot afinancial inclusion and literacy programme for newmigrant communities across the greater Belfastarea, with particular emphasis on new migrantworkers. A range of advice provision methods wasalso trialled through the two Financial InclusionOfficers such as drop in and appointment servicesand outreach to the local community.Overall objectives:1. Development of a financial literacyprogramme for the new migrant andethnic minority communities in Belfast;2. Raise awareness of the project so that:Providers of advice across Belfast crossrefer new migrants to the project;The project and issues associated withit are known in the Northern IrelandAssembly, key government departmentsand statutory bodies.3. Provide opportunities for new migrantsand minority ethnic group members tobecome involved in volunteering.4. Ensure sustainability for the projectthrough a future funding strategy.For each objective a range of activities,outputs and intended outcomes weredeveloped and these are reported on below.Overall impact:Improved financial inclusion amongst newmigrants in Northern Ireland.4.2 Outputs/activities andOutcomes against AgreedTargets and ObjectivesThe overall aim of this intervention was to preventfinancial exclusion of new migrants and ethnicminorities by enabling them to improve their financialliteracy skills and their access to financial services.In order to meet this aim the project coordinatorsagreed and formulated 4 objectives and 7 keyactivities and outputs related to them. Eachindividual output is assessed according to the datagathered throughout the evaluation.Objective 1: Development of a financial literacyprogramme for the new migrant and ethnicminority communities in BelfastOutput/Activity 1.1Provide a drop-in, appointment and outreachservice where appropriate, offering advice andinformation on financial issues facing individualsfrom new migrant and ethnic minority communities.The drop in, appointment and outreach serviceswere particularly successful and far exceed theirtargets for the numbers of migrants seen and thenumber of issues dealt with. Between April 2009and March 2010 the service saw 367 clients andadvised on 1638 issues, against the original targetof 250 clients and 500 issues. Advice on finance,debt, employment and in-work benefits accountedfor nearly 70% of all enquiries to the service.Issues dealt with included:• difficulties opening bank accounts;• difficulties accessing credit;• having access to a debit card to book air traveland transferring money home.

20Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen IrelandA lack of English language skills coupled with littleunderstanding of the UK financial system, meantthat some clients had accrued debt or agreed toenter into burdensome contracts for consumergoods, as well as unnecessary insurances:“At the very beginning when I was opening theaccount at Barclays, they were trying to make mebuy different types of insurance (for example travelinsurance). They tried to make me take it and I saidOK, because I will be travelling to Poland I wouldtake it. Because I didn’t speak English I just said:ok, I’ll take it. Only after some time, somebodytold me: you don’t need that, they are just trying tomake you pay them to have more money.” (Aleksy,Polish)Even where migrants do speak fluent English, theysometimes are still not fully aware of how elementsof the UK finance system work. For example, twoof the migrants in the sample had access to creditcards but did not understand the need to pay themoney back each month, or did not understand theinterest rates when they took the card out and werenow struggling to pay the money back. Sadgati isone example of this:“They charged me around 30% interest… so Ireached the stage where I was paying £350 amonth just for interest, so I really had a problem…Iwas paying as much as my rent” (Sadgati, Indian)From the interviews with the service users it wasclear that financial problems are closely interlinkedand that quite often an ‘entry problem’ (i.e. theinitial reason for which the user approaches theservice) unveils a wide range of other issues.For instance, Alesky initially approached CABwhen he got a letter from the bank due to anoverpayment. This was as a result of his tax creditsbeing suspended without him knowing.“Then, whenever the tax was suspended, becausethere was some problem, then my income wasmuch less and I started using more than I have. Sothere was like an overdraft limit, the first limit was100 and then it was increased with 500 and so Istarted using more than I had”(Alesky, Polish)It later emerged that Alesky was entitled to otherbenefits and that his problem could have beenalleviated if he had known about this. Due to hislimited ability to speak or understand English, thisuser was clearly facing a build up of problems.Outreach sessions have been in great demandsolicited by the Northern Ireland Polish Associationand the Multicultural Centre. Since there is needfor an interpreter, the sessions at the PolishAssociation take place three times a week,whereas the ones at the Multi-Cultural Centrewere less frequent due to budget constraints forinterpreters.Output/Activity 1.2Promote financial inclusion and the service acrossthe greater Belfast areaThis activity has been partially successful. CABhas established a network of key contacts acrossthe greater Belfast area who had been approachedwith information and materials about the service.Though a number of efforts were made to produceeffective publicity materials to advertise thisspecific service, evidence from the user interviewsand project staff suggest that the largest proportionof users were attracted to it either by word ofmouth, community links or (mostly informal)referrals. For example, Alesky found out about theservice through the local Polish Welfare group:“Some time ago, there was a meeting for Polishpeople where they were teaching English andthat is where I met [the project Financial InclusionOfficer] (…) our kids go to the same youth club, soI also saw her there when I bring my kids. I told herI had some problems and she said come here, thatis an organisation that can help you”. (Alesky, 50)The widespread recognition of the CAB brand andits established reputation as an independent / notfor profit source of information and advice also attractedclients from the target groups who approached CABwithout knowledge of the migrant specific service.CAB contacted a wide variety of organisations byemail, letter and telephone to publicise the project.In addition, a briefing article, referral form and anoutline of the information session were sent out toall contacts and relevant organisations.In terms of publicity materials, 1000 businesscards were printed and 100 posters were placed invenues used by migrants. Posters were printed in arange of languages.Effort has also been made to establish meaningfullinks with the various migrant communities presentin Belfast. As part of the delivery of the service, CABheld several meetings with the Chinese WelfareAssociation, the Indian Community Centre, the PolishAssociation, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions,the Advice Partnerships in Greater Belfast and the

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 21Whiterock Children’s Multi-cultural Outreach Centre.Additionally, they have participated in communityevents in local shopping centres and promoted theservice through providing an information stand withleaflets and posters at community events wheneverpossible. Some clients were accompanied to a bankby the polish project worker.Whilst knowledge of the service in communitygroups was high, the project could have engagedmore with the financial providers to promote theservice to those migrants having problems in thebank itself. This could be achieved by leavingposters or leaflets in various languages to bedisplayed in the bank and used by bank staffto give to migrants having difficulties. This washighlighted by service users during the interviewswhen they were asked how the service couldreach out more to migrants in need of advice.Alesky suggested that the service should makebusiness cards available in banks, especially‘when there is a Polish name in it’, so people whocannot communicate in English know that ‘a Polishspeaker is available to help’.Outcome:New migrants and members of minority ethniccommunities know where they can get help andadvice – e.g. they are aware of the serviceEvidence suggests that the service has reacheda significant number of migrant groups andorganisations that exist to help them. It is lessclear however, whether the service has reachedmigrants who do not visit these organisationsand are not involved with their communitygroups.Output/Activity 1.3Provide information sessions on financial capabilityto new migrant and ethnic minority communitiesand those organisations who work with thesecommunitiesEvidence suggests that the information sessionswere delivered successfully at locations throughoutBelfast including a Polish Saturday School, StColmcille Church and in the Polish and ChineseWelfare Centres, and one is due to take place atthe Indian Community Centre. Overall more than100 people attended the sessions and the numberof attendees ranged from 15 to 40. Participants ineach session were given an evaluation ‘feedback’form, although it is not clear that records were keptas to the number of people attending each sessionor their key characteristics. It is not possibletherefore to say in a concrete way how many ofthe information session attendees were migrants,although their location suggests a high proportionwould have been.CAB developed a training pack for this project to deliverinformation sessions, covering the following topics:• Banking and Banking Services (Unit 1);• Credit Facilities & Debt Management (Unit 2);and• Income Maximisation (Unit 3).The three units have been designed so that they canbe delivered together or as stand-alone courses.The feedback forms indicate that Unit 1 was seen as themost useful element of the session. All of the participantsrated the trainer’s knowledge as ‘very good’.Output/Activity 1.4Provide a ‘money talks’ service for local schoolswith a large proportion of migrant/minority children/young peopleThis activity has proved harder to achieve than theothers. This is not due to CAB itself, rather the factthat the school curriculum in Northern Ireland hasa ‘money talks’ element and therefore schools thatwere identified as being in high migrant populationareas did not feel that additional training wasnecessary.Project staff discussed other, additional waysto target youth from migrant communities andas a result the service has established linkswith a Polish Saturday School in Belfast, as wellas with the Indian, Islamic and Traveller youthgroups through the Indian Community Centre.Outcome:Increased availability of money managementand financial information to children and youngnew migrants in Belfast.In a sense this part of the project has not beensuccessful. However this is because of theexisting money talks programme undertaken asa part of the Northern Ireland school curriculumwhich would encompass migrant children.So, although migrant children are not gettingadvice as a part of this project, they are gettingit through another source.Objective 2: Raise awareness of the project so

22Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Irelandthat:• Providers of advice across Belfast crossrefer new migrants to the project• The project and issues associated with itare known in the Northern Ireland Assembly,key government departments and statutorybodiesOutput/Activity 2.1Work with local organisations to make them awareof financial inclusion needs through forums,meetings, launch event, networking and mail outs.The project was launched at the Long Gallery,Stormont on the 25th June 2009. The launch wassponsored by Dawn Purvis MLA, Declan O’LoanMLA and Danny Kennedy MLA, all members ofthe All Party Assembly Group of Ethnic MinorityCommunities. Speakers included representativesfrom Calouste Gulbenkian, ICAR, Citizens AdviceBelfast, the NI Assembly and the Deputy LordMayor of Belfast and the event was effective atraising awareness of the project in these circles. Alaunch of the project findings, including this report,will take place in December 2010 to follow up withthis group and disseminate results.publicise the project. In addition, CAB also attendsregularly the South Belfast Round Table againstRacism meetings as well as participating in theMigrants Forum organised by the Good RelationsUnit, Belfast City Council, ensuring that project staffunderstand local issues relevant to the migrantpopulation.OutcomeIncreased awareness amongst interestednetworks, forums and providers of services formigrants of issues related to financial inclusionneeds of the target groupThe project staff have made extensive effortsto make the project known amongst relevantproviders of advice and services for newmigrants in Belfast, and these efforts haveshown its positive effects. However, while therichness of the relationship between CAB andreferral organizations have been corroboratedvia interviews with some representatives ofthese agencies, at the time of writing, thereis no systematic data gathered by the projecton number of referrals made and by whichagencies in the period evaluated. CAB shouldensure that this data is collected routinelyin future projects as it is vital for monitoringpurposes.Objective 3: Provide opportunities for newmigrants and minority ethnic group members tobecome involved in volunteeringOutput/Activity 3.1Recruit and encourage volunteering from newmigrant and ethnic minority communitiesMick Macatavey, Chief officer, Citizens Advice Belfast.Project Launch June 2009.As discussed above, key organisations have beencontacted and involved in the dissemination ofinformation and referral of migrants to the service.CAB staff have networked at various events andhave been successful in getting organisationsto refer clients avoiding the duplication of effortacross agencies.Project staff members also attended a numberof events wherever it was possible / relevant toRecruitment advertisements for volunteers wereplaced in local community newspapers andmigrant and ethnic minority newsletters in orderto promote volunteering amongst this group. As aresult several enquiries were made in relation tothis, and it has been reported that taster sessionsare being arranged. These sessions will have theobjective of showing migrants the different rolesthat they can undertake and what is expected fromthem as volunteers.As reported by CAB, it was necessary toimplement this strategy to overcome specificbarriers in terms of culture and volunteering ethos.Volunteering might be taken by migrants as an adhoc task and as such they would not necessarilycommit to it in quite the same way as it is normally

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 23expected from a structured volunteer programmein the UK. As the training to be provided would beaccredited (Open College Network, Level 3), it isimportant to ensure that enrolled volunteers arefully aware of the commitment involved.While the point of cultural differences andvolunteering ethos is a valid one, it is importantnot to underestimate the willingness of migrantsto be engaged into these activities. Almostall users interviewed showed much interest involunteering if they had the opportunity. In somecases, however, it was evident that issues of timeavailability (not having time due to work) and /or language difficulties would be harder barriersto this enterprise than the issue of interest orunderstanding of the volunteering ethos in the UK.On occasions, as mentioned above the languagebarrier (coupled with a lack of confidence) can bea real deterrent for migrants who would otherwisebe very happy to help fellow members of theircommunities, while learning new skills:“I don’t know if I could volunteer, I don’t know ifI know the language enough and if I would behelpful, (…) but yes, off course I would like, everytime you learn something new that is good.”(Daina, Lithuanian)OutcomeIncreased interest in volunteering from migrantsand ethnic minorities groupsIt is currently too early to say whether this aimwill be successful. Whilst there has been acertain amount of interest shown by migrantgroups, it remains to be seen whether thismeans that more migrants will volunteer in thelong term. At the time of writing there are 2volunteers from new migrant and ethnic minoritycommunities undergoing adviser training andone undertaking administrative work. Therewas a further volunteer from the new migrantcommunity who has subsequently left the CABand moved into employment.It is acknowledged that there may be somecultural barriers to overcome in terms of differentways of viewing voluntary work, however,as noted in the interviews, future planningshould address other key barriers such astime availability or lack of confidence dueto language difficulties or social / financialexclusion more broadly.Objective 4: Ensure sustainability for the projectthrough a future funding strategyActivity 4.1Future planning for the funding of further serviceprovisionCAB has been exploring various sources ofadditional funding for the project and applied for agrant by the Office of the First Minister and DeputyMinister in January 2010, which was unsuccessful.The project has been extended to the end of June2010 ‘through a mixture of re-profiling the budgetand the use of additional funding from Belfast CityCouncil and Department of Social Development’.(CAB Manager)The project is proactively seeking to developfurther services based on the experience from thisinitiative and others throughout Europe (One StopShop in Lisbon, Portugal).Obtaining funding for the project to continue hasso far had some success with a grant from LloydsTSB to fund a project extension to December2010 and clear efforts from CAB and a need fromthe migrant population. The project has been alarge success in its key area of providing financialadvice to migrants, whilst unsuccessful in otherssuch as providing money advice in schools withhigh migrant populations. It is hoped that the clearevidence for the success and need of the coreadvice sessions will lead to the CAB team beingable to put forward more proposals to funders sothat the service can continue.OutcomeActions are in place to ensure the continuationof the projectThe high demand for the service (includingoutreach activities requested by communityorganizations) and the fact that issues dealt withand number of clients seen has surpassed theinitial targets demonstrated that there is a needto continue providing this service.In light of this, project managers showed aclear awareness of the need to make provisionsfor sustainability of the project well before theproject life time was coming to an end, andevidence indicates they have made concreteefforts to sustain it.

24Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Ireland4.3 ImpactThe impact of a project like this one is difficult tomeasure concretely for a number of reasons. Themain reason is that there are no official statisticsthat state how many migrants there are in thegreater Belfast area and it is therefore not possibleto understand what percentage of the populationthis project reached.Overall we can say with confidence that the servicehas helped some migrants to become financiallyincluded by providing access to a bank accountor card, by helping to resolve issues with banksand creditors and providing help with access tobenefits. The service also has clearly made animpact on the organisations who are working withmigrants in the area and they are now aware thatsuch a service exists that they can refer migrantsto avoiding duplication of effort.All of the migrants that were interviewed as a partof the project had recommended the CAB serviceto their friends and colleagues. This is importantbecause the research part of this report shows thatword of mouth is a very effective and popular wayfor new migrants to find out about services that aretrusted by others in the community.The service found that new migrants can approachthe Citizens Advice and other agencies with awide range of problems, not all of them related tofinancial issues. However, the service statisticsshow that financial advice was the top issue thatmigrants presented with especially in relation tobank accounts, credit problems and access to ordelays in the benefit system. Financial inclusion asseen elsewhere in this report involves much morethan purely having access to a bank account. Forsome migrants understanding the welfare systemsand their benefit entitlement is the key to theirfinancial inclusion.Evidence from interviews carried out with serviceusers as a part of this evaluation have shown thatthe service is effective at dealing with and resolvingproblems for migrant communities. A numberof the migrants had their problems resolved byCAB writing to or speaking with providers on theirbehalf, however, one key element mentioned byall was that thanks to the CAB service they nowfully understood the issues they had and how toavoid or deal with them in the future. CAB thereforeprovides a vital financial capability function inthe new migrant community as well as providingimmediate solutions to problems.4.4 Lessons LearnedThe Financial Inclusion project designed anddelivered by Citizens Advice Belfast is the firstservice directly intended to reach new migrantand ethnic minority communities in terms offinancial advice. This was achieved via communityoutreach activities and proactively building up thelinkages between community organizations andCAB and other networks of support organizations.Specifically, has it been able to reach newmigrants through direct links with communityorganisations and referrals from other agencies.The project has found that the key elements ofattracting migrants to a service are:• Promotion and publicity in a wide range oflanguages• Word of mouth amongst migrant groups• Advisers who are able to speak the languageand who are from the community• Access to impartial interpreters where theadviser speaks only English• Flexibility of drop in times and sessions andpossibility of telephone advice• Face to face advice is preferred• Excellent networking with other agencies whowork with migrant groups for cross referralThe demand for the service was high and thetargets set at the start of the projects for thenumber of clients seen and issues dealt withwere well exceeded. This suggests that there is acontinued and strong demand for the service andthat it should be continued where funding allows.The service also benefits other workers in theCitizens Advice agency because they have aspecific service which they can direct migrants to.In other agencies and before the service began inBelfast, Citizens Advice service staff often struggleto deal with migrant clients due to the often presentlanguage barrier, setting up special clinics atspecific times and employing often expensiveinterpreters.The lessons learned from this project lead to thedevelopment of two recommendations for theproject going forward.

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 25Recommendation 1: It isstrongly recommendedthat Citizens Advice Belfastcontinue to support andfind sources of funding tocontinue and expand theservice.In particular they should;• Continue to guide good practice by employingpeople from migrant communities• Expand the financial capability workshopsby having a monthly outreach in migrantcommunity groups• Continue to work closely with other servicesproviding help for migrants across Belfast• Consider employing a full time administratorfor the service who could formalise reportingarrangements and data entry to ensure thatrecords are updated systematically freeing upadvisor time on administrationRecommendation 2:Development of the FinancialInclusion projectIn developing future services for new migrantsaround financial inclusion agencies should followbest practice identified in this project;• Employment of advisors from migrantcommunities as staff and volunteers• Access to interpreters (a database ofinterpreters should be developed acrossNorthern Ireland)• Be aware that reporting systems should beadapted to take into account;• Immigration status• Length of time in Northern Ireland• Clear referral process from other agencies withaccurate records of referrals to help monitorprogress and outreach

26Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Ireland5. KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS5.1 What is the extentof financial inclusionamongst new migrantcommunities in NorthernIreland?This research has found that the picture formigrant’s financial inclusion according to theTreasury definition 17 is complex. In general mostof the migrants in the sample from the EU do havethe financial services they need for everyday life,but do not always have access or informationabout services that they could use to managetheir money better such as savings, credit andloans. They also sometimes struggle to open abank account when they first arrive due to eitherdocumentation or language problems or both.Other groups of migrants, in particular the Chinese,or those without legal rights to remain in theUK, are financially excluded from mainstreamservices and turn to other more risky techniquesfor managing their money such as using friends’accounts or more often keeping money in theiraccommodation when they have it. Theseindividuals are likely to be working in insecure jobswhere they are paid in cash weekly or daily andthen spend the cash as soon as they have it onrent and food. This group is particularly excludedbecause of their lack of English language skills, thelack of any information, media or television in theirown languages and their reliance on friends andacquaintances for help and support.This research has identified four broad typologiesof new migrants according to their financialinclusion in Northern Ireland.5.1.1 Typologies of financialinclusion and exclusionamongst new migrants in NITotally ExcludedThis group of new migrants are mainly failedasylum seekers or those that have been smuggledinto the UK with no legal status to remain. In thisresearch these were mainly of Chinese nationality,but that is not to say that other nationals arenot experiencing total exclusion as well. It isimpossible to estimate the numbers of thesemigrants in Northern Ireland as they are a hiddenpopulation, however out of the 64 interviewsconducted for this research, 11 respondents werein this category.By definition the totally excluded are restricted fromentering the mainstream financial sector due totheir immigration status and they often have littleidea of mainstream services as they stay awayfrom authority. As well as this, the totally excludedare in unstable and often part time employmentand when they get paid, usually in cash everyweek, the money goes straight to their landlord,to gang members who they owe money to and onbuying essentials with little or none left. Many of theChinese respondents in this situation had borrowedlarge sums, up to £25,000 to get to the UK andwere now paying that money back either to familyin China or the Gang who smuggled them.This group feel the effects of financial exclusionmost keenly and this is explored further below.“I know nothing and I don’t understand anything. Ijust wait and hope that the Home Office can helpme and let me stay” (Interviewee 27)Middle ExcludedThe middle excluded tend to come from a mixedgroup of migrants who are typically in low skilledand low paid employment. This includes EU andother migrants as well as refugees and asylumseekers.The middle excluded tend to fall into three groups;• Those with access to a basic bank account butwho have very little money to put in it• Those with very little understanding of how thefinancial system works due to lack of Englishskills• Those who have had a visa to come to theUK which has now expired. This last group isespecially vulnerable to slipping into the totallyexcluded category.

28Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen IrelandTotally IncludedThe totally included tend to be migrants who havebeen in Northern Ireland for the longest period oftime and who are fully settled into Northern Irelandlife, with the intention to stay for good. They areoften those migrants who have come to the countryon working or student visas and have earned theright to stay. They are in higher paid employmentor their spouses are in higher paid employment.The totally included have access to all financialservices and are able to save money and getloans. Some of the totally included have mortgagesin Northern Ireland.It should be noted that this group was a smallernumber of the sample than the other three groupsabove, and that not all migrants who have been inthe country for a long period of time will be in thesame situation.The main features that aid total inclusion are:• Highly skilled jobs• Students doing postgraduate courses• Spouse / dependant of one of the above• The right to stay in the UK either permanentlyor long term.Refugees who have the right to indefinitesettlement are not totally included as they tend tohave much lower skilled employment and muchhigher levels of unemployment than the high skilledmigrant workers.Summary of Migrant Characteristics by Inclusion TypologyTotally Excluded Middle Excluded Middle Included Totally IncludedSingleSingle or couples without Couples with or without Couples with or withoutchildrenchildrenchildrenUndocumented / failedasylum seekerNo English languageskillsLimited employmentoften below minimumwagePrivate renter in multipleoccupancyMoney only for food andrentLikely to have debtsto repay in the homecountryWary of mainstreamservicesAccess advice onlythrough communitygroups such as ChineseWelfare or rely on friendsfor helpLow skilled unstableemployment on minimumwageLittle or no Englishlanguage skillsUnlikely to have a bankaccount in the homecountryAccess advice throughcommunity groups suchas Chinese Welfare o9rrely on friends for helpHave a basic bankaccountUse cash to pay forgoods and servicesEU migrantsStable employmentabove the minimumwageAccess to welfarebenefitsAccess to credit cardsand current accountsSave where possibleGood English languageskillsHave access to bankaccounts in homecountryAccess advice forcomplex benefit oremployment issues onlyHighly skilledemploymentPermenent or long termstatus in the UKUse full range ofaccounts, credit cardsand loansLikely to have mortgagesand pensionsSave regularilySeek financial helpthrough formal providersand financial advosors

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 295.1.2 Financial ProvidersA number of banks and building societies werementioned by the new migrants in the research.Clearly, there was a high take up of accounts in theIrish Banks; Ulster Bank, Northern Bank, Bank ofIreland and First Trust. HSBC was also a popularchoice perhaps because of its internationalrecognition and the fact that it had a Chinesespeaker in the Belfast branch. The other mostfrequently mentioned banks were Halifax, Abbey(now Santander) and Woolwich (now part ofBarclays).Two out of 64 migrants in the sample were usingCredit Union accounts. This is a surprising findingbecause of the high take up of Credit Unionaccounts in Northern Ireland and the fact that theymay offer preferential terms especially in relation tosavings and loans to low income groups.5.2 What are the mainfactors affecting the levelof financial inclusionamong new migrantscommunities in NI andwhat are the main effectsof financial exclusion?For any individual to be fully financially includedthey will need to have a range of skills andunderstandings about how the financial systemworks and how it can benefit them. For example,those who do not understand the features of abank account fully and do not therefore use directdebits to pay their bills may pay a penalty withutility companies for paying in cash. They haveaccess and are included in the sense that theyhave a bank account but they do not have theknowledge required to make full use of it. They arenot financially excluded as they have access to abank account, but they are not fully included eitheras they do not have the ability to manage it fully.Factors affecting levels of financial inclusionthen are complex and include both education,knowledge and ability to make full use of theservice as well as access to them. Migrants oftenhave an added complexity in that they may not beable to understand or speak English, will not befamiliar with the way that financial services workin the UK and may be looking for accounts whichwill not only allow them to deposit money, shoponline for tickets and save but also send moneyback to their home country easily and with minimalcharges.Writing in 2003, Regan and Paxton stated thatwhen thinking about financial inclusion “it is notjust about access to products but also the qualityof engagement with those products and the needfor individuals to develop skills and confidenceto make informed decisions” (Regan andPaxton 2003:1). This research has reiterated thisstatement. Whilst some migrants struggle to opena bank account, especially when they first arrive inNorthern Ireland, those that are legally allowed tostay in the UK are able to eventually have a bankaccount of some kind. However, there are specialcomplexities for the new migrant population whichinhibit the development of skills and confidence tomake informed decisions about financial matters.Findings from the research are then divided intothree sections with a discussion of the barriers toinclusion and the affects of exclusion made undereach.1. Access to financial products2. Confidence in money management3. Developing financial skills and access tofinancial advice5.2.1 Access to financialproductsThe main factors affecting access to financialproducts amongst new migrants can be groupedinto the following;• Language:Lack of English language skillsInformation on accounts, products and servicesis all in EnglishTerms and conditions of the accounts is inEnglishStatements and letters cannot be understoodReliance on friends, family or acquaintances fortranslation and interpreting• Documentation:

30Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen IrelandLack of address evidence when living inmultiple occupancy householdsDifferent requirements in different banksThe Unemployment ‘circle’• Types of Account:Only being offered a basic accountWaiting for a current account• Access to credit:Lack of information and understanding aboutthe terms and conditionsWaiting to be offered a card due to credithistory problems• Access to the bank:Opening times of branchLocality and the ability to get to the bank48 out of 62 interviewees (77%) had accessto a bank account. Figure 2 below shows thenumber of interviewees with access to a bankaccount by their immigration status. This is not ofcourse statistically relevant and is intended as anindication only, however it does show that thereis a high take-up of bank accounts amongst newmigrants and that the demand for such services ishigh.Access to a bank account however, does not meanthat new migrants are fully financially included; infact this research shows that purely having accessto a bank account is a poor indicator of financialinclusion. New migrants arriving in NorthernIreland, especially those who were in employmenttend to open a bank account soon after arrival sothat they can get their wages paid into an account.There are very different experiences amongstmigrants when attempting to open an accountwhich depend largely on their employment status,language skills and identification documents.Many of the migrants in this research who hadcome to Northern Ireland with a job lined up wereassisted by the employer in opening an account.This process was easy for the migrant as theemployer went to the bank with them and arrangedmuch of the documentation required. However,this practice does mean that the migrant has toopen an account with the bank that the employerFigure 2: Number of Intervierwees who had a bank account by immigration statusFAS/Undoc = Failed asylum seekers and other undocumented migrants

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 31recommends and that this bank may not have thebest account for that individual.On the whole however, migrants who took this routewere happy with the arrangements and just usedthe account to access their wages and undertakeeveryday transactions. One example of this is aPolish interviewee who was taken to Ulster Bank byhis employer’s secretary:“She helped me to open it and I did not understandeverything. I just signed a form. I had to sign. Theydid everything for me. I just signed” (Interviewee53)Those migrants who did not have an employer toassist them, or who were not working when theywanted to open an account had a harder timeaccessing the system. Those who were also notable to speak English and/or living in multipleoccupancy housing had the most problems.Lack of work and the unemployment circleThose migrants who had arrived in NorthernIreland, sometimes to join a spouse or to seekwork but without work for the first few months haddifficulties opening an account even though theyhad money in accounts in their home countries totransfer. This made things difficult as foreign bankscharge money to get cash from UK cash machinesand so everything had to be done by cardpayment, or occasional large cash withdrawals.One EU migrant who was studying English parttime and looking for a part time job explained:“Opening a bank account has been a real problem,because I have money, my savings, and I visitedBarclays and Northern Bank to try to open anaccount. I asked for information to open my bankaccount and they asked me if I was working, I said‘no I am studying, but I have money... but theysaid ‘it is necessary that you are working’. Theyrequested many documentation” (Interviewee 5)This has implications for those seeking work asthe employer or an agency will often request abank account number before work can commenceleading to a circle of exclusion.LanguageThe biggest barrier to opening an account andbecoming financially included in Northern Irelandis to those migrants that lack English skills. Manymigrants were trying to learn English, however thisis a slow process and therefore they need to openan account and deal with the financial serviceproviders before they are confident. Some migrantsfound that they had resolved these issues bylearning English as they settled. Others who wereworking 6 days a week on 12 hour shifts found itimpossible to find time to take English lessons andwere just as isolated after 5 or more years than onarrival.None of the migrants that were interviewed hadbeen offered an interpreter by the service providerand none had ever had any information about theaccount or product in their own language. Thisleads to confusion and worry and ultimately areliance on friends and services such as the PolishCommunity Centre to help. Some migrants hadtaken people who they did not know directly to helpthem interpret at the bank, a situation which couldmake them particularly vulnerable to fraudulentactivity:“I asked everybody who had time. Or by telephone,sometimes I used a mobile phone for interpreter.Or just anybody who wants to go with me and helpme” (Interviewee 49)“I was happy enough at this stage [openingthe account] that my friend went with me, butI would prefer it if the interpreter would be in aplace because then you know, people, they don’thave to know everything about personal things”(Interviewee 51)Once the account had been opened, thosewith little or no English skills found that they didnot understand the terms and conditions of theaccount. Often, new migrants in this position weresigning terms and conditions without knowing whatthey were:“I have signed all the conditions of the contract andI don’t know what is in the contract because no onewas available at the time I was signing the contractto go with me. So I don’t know what I signed”(Interviewee 49)“The biggest problem is the language barrier soit would be great if I could have an interpreteror someone to explain the banking rules andso on to understand the options the bank have”(Interviewee 04)Services like the Chinese and Polish Welfarecentres are well connected and can advisemigrants which currently have the best accountsfor new migrants, for example, one intervieweehad opened an account on the advice of a workerfrom the Cooltura Polish Welfare group as theywere able to get a debit card straight away in thatparticular bank which was not the case with otherbanks at that time.

32Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen IrelandClearly, there are differences in understandingEnglish between migrant groups. Some of theEU migrants were able to understand basiccommunication from the banks, such as thenumbers on the statements and online banking.However, the Chinese interviewees who havea different number system were not able tounderstand this basic financial information, andhad to get help to read them. This can be seen inthe case of this female Chinese refugee;“Well, in general, I won’t understand even myelectricity bill or telephone bill, I don’t know themeter and I don’t know the telephone how muchto use and spend because I don’t understandEnglish.... sometimes when my friends come they,my friend understand English, I just give my friend[the statement] to look”. (Interviewee 22)Lack of documentationThis was mentioned frequently as a major issuewhen opening an account for all migrants, eventhose who spoke fluent English. Many migrants,especially during their first year in Northern Ireland,are renting their accommodation and do not haveutility bills with their name on. Some migrantsbecause they had little money, use top up cardsfor their gas and electricity and so do not have billsto show as proof of address. This poses numerousproblems and causes confusion as different bankshave different requirements.Often a migrant will have to try several banksbefore they are able to find one which allowsthem to open an account, even with the samedocumentation, this EU migrant states;“Respondent: I tried like two [banks], I think, beforeI arrived to Abbey. And they were really nice, veryquick, and told yeah, no worries, we can open anaccount for youInterviewer: And why did the other two refuse?Respondent: Because they told me that I had tohave a bill with my name on it and all this kind ofthings that I don’t have. And I don’t even have thatnow, because if you are renting a house, you aresharing a house, all the bills come to the landlord,not in my name so that is really difficultInterviewer: and the Abbey didn’t need that?Respondent: They only asked me for a letter of mylandlord, like a proof that I am living in this house”(Interviewee 11)“I could only find one or two banks willing to giveme an account, basic account of course, and theyrequired a load of paperwork as proof of address,proof of employment, proof of this, proof of that,and other confirmation from a local authority suchas policemen or a priest or lawyer that we aredecent people…it really took me about two or threemonths to get it all, to get all the documents ready”(Interviewee 17)Delays in time between arrival in the UK andhaving the appropriate documentation to openan account vary dramatically, with some havingthe correct papers and no problems, to otherswaiting over six months. Being in temporaryaccommodation is one barrier as this refugeestates;“Actually, I had difficulties in my first three monthshere in Belfast to open an account. Because atthe time I used to live in a hostel. And they reject,they say they not accept any hostel address aspermanent address or temporary address. And Iopened my account after four or five months here,after I got my new accommodation” (Interviewee09)Another EU migrant used a friend’s account for hissalary for the first six months in Northern Irelandbefore he moved to his own room where thelandlord wrote a letter confirming his address andhe was able to open his own account.Debit cards and basic accountsThere was often confusion when the intervieweeswere asked what type of account they had opened.All interviewees were asked what kinds of accountsthat they had for each bank mentioned. Only34% of the interviewees identified that they had abasic account and 36% a current account with theremainder being unclear in each case. This mightindicate that people do not clearly understand thedifference between a basic account and a currentaccount and the different features of each;“I didn’t even know the difference between savingaccount and current account and all these types …that was half a year later when I realised what sortof account it was” (Interviewee 17)A clear distinction emerged however, betweenthose who had cards which only allowed themto take cash out and not shop online, and thosewho had a debit card which they could use foreverything. Online shopping was mentioned,especially by EU migrants who were looking to buycheaper travel tickets online, as being a crucialpart of their choice to go to a particular bank asnot all cards are accepted online. One EU migrantexplains;

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 33“When I am buying tickets to my country throughRyanair company, I am not allowed to buy ticketswith a debit card, just with credit card. That’s why Ineed that card.” (Interviewee 16)Often this means that a migrant will open their firstbank account in one place and then as they beginto understand how the system works, or they talk tofriends and find out about different services, theywill open a new account at a different bank offeringpreferential terms.“I opened [the] account in Northern Bank and thenI realised that I need an account with different debitcard than maestro … and I asked Northern Bankif I can open a second account and get anotherdebit card, they said ‘no you cannot’ so I went toUlster Bank and actually I was trying everything toget the debit card account, I even moved all themoney I have in the account in Northern Bank toUlster Bank account but they opened only for mea cash card account, which wasn’t good for me,so after that I tried with Woolwich (which is nowBarclays) and there was no problem, I openedan account with them … that was visa electron”(Interviewee 47).Some migrants who wanted to have a fullyfunctional account which they can use for directdebits, online purchases and so on were awarethat they had to ‘earn’ this through a period of time.This led to an understanding that when they firstarrive they would have to open a basic accountand then wait for a period of time to build theircredit history and then open a more advancedaccount;“At the beginning I have the basic one [account]but I don’t like to have cash in my bag, in case,so I use to pay most things, the shopping with mycard, so after a few months I asked if I could havethat, and they told me I had to wait for about sixmonth…so I waited and when this month arrived Iget now a debit card” (Interviewee 11)Access to creditA quarter of the migrants in the sample had acredit card. Some of the interviewees did not havea personal credit card but did have access to onethrough their partner or family.New migrants were divided about access to creditand loans. Many of them stated that they did notwant to build up debts and would rather save thanhave a credit card or loan.“But I don’t like credit cards because you payinterests. With a credit card, for everything I pay,I spend 1% - 3% in interest, and I don’t like that. Iprefer to save my money when I have it, and use itthen to pay for my expenses” (Interviewee 05)Some had been offered a credit card through theirexisting banks, and sometimes this led to themgetting a credit card without understanding fullywhat the card was for and the terms and conditionsof the contract which led to debt accruing.Migrants who had recently arrived or those withoutbank accounts relied on friends and family forinformal loans to tide them over and buy essentialfurniture whilst they looked for work or establishedthemselves. These migrants would have liked totake a bank loan and had often asked for one butwere not able to access formal loans due to credithistory and financial standing;“When we came to the country we were reallyjust on his [partners] income. We asked for thatloan, I just think we wanted to buy furniture forour daughter’s room or something like that. Wejust asked for maybe £1000 or something, it wasa really very small amount. I am not talking aboutthe mortgages or the loans for house or flats, justsmall” (Interviewee 13)For those more established, settled and financiallyincluded migrants loans, credit cards andmortgages were available and easy to obtain.These fully included migrants tend to be thosewho have highly skilled jobs, have been in thecountry for over 5 years and who intend to staypermanently.Access to the BranchBranch opening times and locations werementioned frequently by some migrants as beinga problem, especially for those who lived outsideof central Belfast. Even for those that do live in thecity, the opening hours were prohibitive and theyhad to take time off work to go to the branch. Somebanks open late or on Saturday and this was seenas a good benefit of having the account in thatparticular bank. One interviewee living in a ruralarea stated;“When I worked full time… I couldn’t get to thebranch at all because the opening hours were fromhalf nine in the morning to half five in the afternoonMonday to Friday so I didn’t have a chance to andif I needed to get something sorted I had to takethe day off to go to the bank” (Interviewee 17)The EU migrants were especially keen on onlinebanking as they could understand the system

34Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Irelandand did not need to communicate to bank staffin English or go to the bank itself to manage theaccount. This is a big advantage for those workingduring the banks opening hours, and for thoseliving in the more rural areas where the bank isfurther away. When asked what the benefits of hisaccount were, one interviewee stated;“Card, debit card is the biggest benefit for mebecause I don’t like to carry cash. And then thebiggest benefit, maybe even bigger than thefirst one is that I can make payments through theinternet at home. I don’t need to go to the bank.”(Interviewee 16)A few of the interviewees were not using onlinebanking because they did not trust the systemand had heard of friends who had money stolenfrom their accounts after using online banking. Itshould also be noted that older migrants who werenot used to using a computer were also not usinginternet banking as they were not confident enoughto do so.Some were using online banking to transfer moneybetween accounts held in Northern Ireland and inthe home country which is cheaper and easier thangoing into the branch. There is more information onthis in section below.5.2.2 Confidence in moneymanagementIn Section 5.1 it is clear that the majority ofmigrants (those with rights to be in the UK) dohave access to bank accounts even if this takessome time to establish. This section examinesnew migrant’s confidence in their everydaymanagement of their money and their ability tosave money. Clearly, as with everything mentionedabove, the ability to speak English is a key factorin confidence when managing money, discussingissues with the bank staff and paying for goodsand services.The following issues are the main barriers toconfidence in money management;• Knowledge of the banking system and featuresof the account:Cash and card useDirect debitsSavings• Lack of money and struggling to get by:Budgeting• Sending money home:Bank transfersInformal methods• Freezing accountsKnowledge of the banking system and featuresof the accountCash and card useThere was a wide variety of behaviours when itcomes to money management and cash and carduse in the sample. Many of the migrants, especiallythose in lower paid, low skilled work, were paid incash on a weekly basis. This is important becauseit has a number of implications for financialwellbeing and money management;• Migrants who are undocumented are able tomanage to survive on weekly cash salariesbecause they can pay their rent, food andother essentials right after getting paid.• Those migrants that do have a bank accountand get paid in this way may not put a regularamount of money into their accounts as theycan pay for rent and food with cash and onlydeposit money left over. This is a problem forthe banks who cannot see a regular salarypayment going into the account making themless likely to offer services such as a currentaccount or build up a good credit history.In addition to this, several intervieweesmentioned that they or their friends had theirbank accounts frozen because the bank wassuspicious of their account activity which is anissue returned to under remittances below.• Although the amount of cash is not likely to belarge, carrying cash around, even for a shortperiod of time can be risky.Unsurprisingly, those with very little money weremore prone to using cash to budget then thosewho were not struggling and preferred to pay bycard.“In Estonia I used cards sometimes, but I don’tknow, I prefer to have cash in my pocket to knowhow much money I have, and I can plan this way,this way is easier for me because I am really shortof money” (Interviewee 07)

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 35Some migrants, especially those from rural areas,were not used to having bank cards and sopreferred to pay by cash as a matter of habit.Those who had basic bank accounts were criticalof the lack of ability to use their cash cards to payfor goods in shops, preferring to have debit cardswhere possible;“They only gave me their cash card they call it, butit was absolutely useless, they say you can paywith it in shops but in fact I couldn’t because infact there were no shops accepting it and the onlyplace I could use it was in First Trusts own ATMs”(Interviewee 17)As well as being inconvenient there may be astigma attached to people who do not have theright cards to make payments in shops, althoughthis is an issue that needs further exploration.Direct DebitsMany of the migrants with bank accounts hadset up and were using direct debits. These weremainly to pay for mobile phone contracts or carinsurance and broadband rather than larger itemssuch as rent which tended to get paid in cash ona weekly basis, although this did vary across thesample depending on who the accommodationwas rented through.SavingsMany of the interviewees were managing to savemoney if they had a job in Northern Ireland, with40% of interviewees saving they had a savingsaccount or were saving money on their otheraccounts. Some of the more recently arrivedmigrants were planning on saving money as soonas they were settled here and able to afford it.“Interviewer: And do you have a savings accounthere in NI?Respondent: Not yetInterviewer: But you were saying that you have yourbank account because you like to put money into itfor your partner to save?Respondent: yes, but I just started work in January.It’s not a long time, so nothing to save by thenInterviewer: so the intention is there?Respondent: yes, especially when you have asmall child you need to do something to thinkabout the future” (Interviewee 16)In general the majority of the sample did not haveor want credit cards or loans, preferring insteadto save. Often these savings were not for anythingspecific, but ‘rainy day’ monies in case somethinggoes wrong or for children’s presents.“I don’t give them [the children] money unless theyreally need to have it. The money they do have willbe in the bank. It’s not too much, but I use it fordays like Christmas or holidays, or if we need to gosomewhere” (Interviewee 41)This money was often saved into the same bankaccount used for daily activities rather than aspecific savings account. Those migrants whowere receiving benefits, especially child benefittended to have a separate account for that moneyso that they could save some money for their child.However, there were some migrants who wantedto access specific savings accounts such as ISA’sand who had researched the various options.These migrants tend to be those who are settling inthe country or who are staying long term and whoare able to communicate in English.The Chinese group, who were often smuggled intothe country and had to borrow up to £25,000 eachto get here, mostly leant to them by friends andfamilies, saved the majority of their wages to paythis debt back. Usually this involved saving theircash earnings in their own or their friends accountsor by asking their employer to save it for them, andthen sending it via a bank to China.Savings were not always only in Northern Irelandbanks or providers, some migrants keep theirsavings accounts in their home countries eitherdue to preferential rates, ease of transferringmoney to family members or for their rents/ childmaintenance.5.2.3 Lack of Money andstruggling to get byBudgetingWhen asked if they had enough money to managetheir daily lives in Northern Ireland and buy foodand essentials interviewees were divided into thosefrom the EU who were in work and those from othercountries who were either refugees unable to workor struggling to find work or those that had no legalstatus. In general, the latter two groups were notable to afford life in Northern Ireland and struggledto buy essential items. These groups were lesslikely to have a bank account, and where they didthey tended to take cash out each week and usethat only to help them budget. This migrant hadonly been in Northern Ireland for two months andsaid;“I prefer to have the cash in my pocket to knowhow much money I have, and I can plan this way,this way is easier for me because I am really shortof money” (Interviewee 07)

36Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen IrelandThis refugee who was unable to find work becauseof his age stated;“You see the money they [the government] give usis just sufficient for the food, what of the clothing?You want us to go naked or sharing? We don’task for having a party, or luxury, no... what I dowhen I walk the road, I just look for money. I pickup money...if I walk every day morning and night,up and down looking, at least I can pick up £2”.(Interviewee 42)In contrast, many of the EU migrants and thosewith permission to work from other countries foundit easy to manage their money and said that theyhad a good standard of life in Northern Ireland.Many of these interviewees also said how mucheasier things were here in the UK than in theirhome countries and this was a major reason forcoming to Northern Ireland and settling. Thesemigrants were more likely to use a mixture of cashand debit cards for paying for goods and services.5.2.4 Sending money homeThe majority of migrants had sent money home atsome point during their time in Northern Irelandand in some cases their families had sent moneyto them in Northern Ireland. There were a varietyof ways in which money was sent ranging fromfriends taking cash with them when they went fora visit to the home country, informal arrangementsusing friends or acquaintances bank accounts andformal transfers through either a bank transfer orother Western Union type provider.Some of the Chinese interviewees who weresmuggled into the UK had large loans from theirfriends and relatives to pay for their journey.Repaying this debt is the first priority for theindividual when they arrive and start to work. Someof those migrants, especially those without workwere still paying this debt some years later whilstothers managed to clear it within a few years.These payments are usually made by banktransfer, however often the undocumented do nothave access to an account and use their friendsaccount instead. This can cost up to £35 pertime if the friend also charges for the individual touse their account, however this is not always thecase and some migrants were using their friend’saccounts for free. In some cases the money wassent through a gang organisation or the Chinesecommunity in London;“In London there is a gang, a gangsters family,an organisation, they have similar banking typesonly running from my home country, whenever Iput money into their account, straightforward myvillage people get the money” (Interviewee 32)The Filipino community in London have a formalsystem for sending money home through anorganisation called CBN which is cheaper thanusing a bank. The Filipino migrants in the samplesent money to this agency in London through theirNorthern Ireland accounts.There was also a divide between convenience andcost for the formal money transfer using banks.Some migrants felt that this service was fast andconvenient and had spent time researching thebanks with the lowest fees, with one actuallyopening an account at a specific bank just formoney transfer because they charged less than hisown bank. Some of the EU and better off Chinesemigrants had commitments at home they neededto send regular amounts for, such as mortgages,loan payments and family maintenance and thiswas almost always done through a bank transferinto the home country account. Bank transferfees that were mentioned were around £20/25 per£1000.Where there is no bank account to send themoney to migrants were using Western Union orMoneyGram to transfer money to family and therewas often confusion as to which was cheaper;“Some people said it’s [Western Union] cheaperbut I found it actually more expensive…the otherday I wanted to send £100 and they [WesternUnion] wanted to charge me £11 for that. Andthen in MoneyGram they charge me £5, so half”(Interviewee 55)Some migrants in the sample, particularly fromthe Chinese community were having problemswith their bank freezing their accounts asthe banks seemed to be suspicious of theirremittance activity. One migrant had his accountwith Halifax frozen without notice and did notunderstand why. This person did not speak anyEnglish and was reliant on help from the ChineseWelfare Association to resolve the problem; in themeantime he had all of his savings in the Halifaxand had no access to them.Migrants may be more susceptible to suspicionsbecause of the nature of the way that they managetheir finances. Many of the Chinese get paid incash weekly, they sometimes ask their boss tosave their cash that they do not use and then will

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 37deposit it in the bank when they have built up asum ready to send to China. This means that thebank sees a large amount of money going into andstraight out of the account raising suspicions. Theproblem is particularity difficult for many migrantsas they do not speak English and so have to relyon others to help them resolve the issues, all ofwhich takes time whilst they have no bank facilities.This is compounded if the migrant had opened anaccount at a time when they had a valid workingvisa. In some cases the bank accounts of migrantswhose visa had ran out (and they were thereforeundocumented) had been frozen and they had nodocumentation to take to the bank to retrieve themoney in the account.5.2.5 Developing financialskills and accessing adviceThere were a range of formal and informal methodsthat new migrants used to develop their skills andaccess advice. All of the interviewees were askedif they had any formal or informal training to helpthem manage their finances. Less than 5 of themhad received training in Northern Ireland or in theirhome countries, and these were informal throughparental guidance or because they had studiedEconomics.It seems then that the majority of the new migrantswere managing their money and learning aboutthe financial system as they went along, becomingmore confident as time went on and their Englishskills improved. It was at particular points whenthe migrants were really struggling that they cameinto contact with an advice agency, usually eitherbecause they needed help with translation andinterpretation or with understanding the benefitssystem.Friends and familyIt has become apparent that many of the migrantsthat we interviewed came to Northern Ireland asthey had a friend or acquaintance already in thecountry who could provide accommodation andeither line a job up or help to find one. Thesefriends also help migrants to gain access tofinancial services, either by telling them what theyneed to do, which banks to go for the best servicesor by going further and helping with translation andinterpreting during the opening of the account andother meetings with the financial provider.times of particular hardship and need. Oneunemployed migrant stated;“I just stay with my friends, play football, so I hangout with the rest of my friends, but I don’t have anycash…my friends help me with this because theylend me some money. As soon as I get a job I willpay my friends” (Interviewee 07)It seems to be that if a migrant has a friend whois in Northern Ireland prior to their arrival they areable to access financial services and becomefinancially included much faster that those who donot have such connections.Community organisationsMigrants who did not speak English and who wereliving in the Belfast area were far more likely to usean advice service from a community organisationsuch as Chinese Welfare Association or Cooltura(Polish Community centre) than any formalorganisation. Indeed, for some migrants theseorganisations had provided a vital lifeline.“Respondent: I just access the Chinese WelfareOrganisation. I can’t go to other organisationsbecause I don’t speak EnglishInterviewer: And how did you know where to go?Respondent: One day after asylum seeking Iwalked around on the University Street and Imet someone who mentioned it so I went there”(Interviewee 27)As with the quote above, migrants often found outabout these centres through word of mouth andoccasionally by leaflets distributed in, for example,Chinese or Polish shops. Migrants go to thesecentres with all kinds of issues, not just for financialhelp, for example, finding solicitors to deal withimmigration issues, employment problems, housingassistance, medical issues and general help withtranslating documents. Once the migrants areaware of the services of these community groupsthey often go back many times for a variety ofissues and to access a variety of services;“I go to the Chinese Welfare, most of the time if Ihave a letter or different document I will bring itto CWA to try to understand what is happening,and also to ask about asylum seekers, any policychange or something I would like to go find adviceand ask what is going on now and maybe it helpme in the future, that’s why I go” (Interviewee 37)“And what sort of thing do Cooltura help you with?Every little problem…I would not have managedwithout those clinics” (Interviewee 49)As already sated above, friends also help withshort term loans especially on arrival or during

38Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen IrelandThere are other agencies in Belfast who are helpingmigrants in various ways to; find employmentand gain English language skills (GEMS), accessinformation and help with immigration claims,accommodation, employment and integration(NICEM), assistance for destitute asylum seekersand support for integration of asylum seekers andrefugees (NICRAS).The British Red Cross also runs a service inNorthern Ireland for destitute asylum seekersproviding emergency funds and clothing. Theseare not mentioned in detail here as they arenot directly providing financial advice eventhought they may signpost people to financialorganisations.advice and stated;“If I have a problem I will go to them, they will bethere for you whenever you need to ask someone,you will be secure” (Interviewee 62)Although not advice directly, many of the migrantscommented on the helpfulness of the bank staffand the information that they offered if there was anissue;“So I like this bank…I explained my problem to the,they talk to me face to face, and they speak to meclearly and its understandable if I ask a question itsno problem” (Interviewee 56)In other parts of Northern Ireland migrants gainhelp through local associations, for example thereis a Chinese and Polish Association in Derry, andmulti cultural centres in Portadown, Omagh andNewry.Citizens Advice across Northern Ireland helpmigrants in a wide variety of ways includingemployment and housing rights, access to benefitsand financial problems such as debt. Demand forthese services is high with most bureaus runningspecial clinics tailored to the majority migrantpopulation in that area with interpreters. Somebureaus have volunteers from migrant communitieswho help clients in their own language. Migrantsin the sample on the whole visited Citizens Adviceafter they had been signposted either by anotherorganisation or by friends who knew that thebureau offered clinics in their own language. Wherethese services were offered, demand for them washigh.BanksFew of the migrants mentioned that they had anyformal help from the banks in obtaining financialadvice although they were aware of informationand leaflets that were available in the branch. Forthose that did not speak English accessing advicethrough the banks would be particularly difficult asnone of the banks offered an interpreting service.Whilst migrants did ask friends and acquaintancesto help them with basic account opening andtransactional issues, they may be less willing to askpeople to go and assist them with detailed advicewhich may be of a more confidential nature.Some migrants who were in employment and whowere highly skilled in English were very happywith the service being offered by the bank did get

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 396. CONCLUSIONThe first two research questions have beenanswered in Chapter 5 above. This conclusionfocuses on summarising these answers, andexamines the third question on policies. The finalresearch question is answered in Chapter 7.6.1 The extent of financialinclusion amongst newmigrant communities inNorthern IrelandThis research has found that the majority of newmigrants, those with a legal right to be in NorthernIreland, have access to a bank account. However,there are a number of barriers for new migrantsin accessing these accounts, and once they areopened, to accessing other financial productsand services provided. There are also barriers toaccessing advice and information.EU Migrants are on the whole financially includedin that they have access to a bank account andare able to understand the system with the use ofinternet banking. There are a larger number of EUmigrants in Northern Ireland than other countriesand this tends to mean that there are establishednetworks where the new migrant can go to findadvice and information upon arrival. The mostcommon way of finding advice about how to, forexample, open a bank account comes throughfriends who will themselves be able to help orwho will direct the newcomer to a service suchas Citizens Advice or the Cooltura Polish WelfareCentre.Non EU migrants who are in high skilledemployment, who speak fluent English and whoplan to settle are financially included as theyare long term stayers and have access to bankaccounts, loans and credit cards and have a goodunderstanding of where to find information andadvice.Those new migrants with no legal status, whoenter with a visa which has now expired or whoare refugees on low incomes are excludedfrom financial services in Northern Ireland andhave great difficulty in managing day to dayfinancial matters. They have little access to andunderstanding of the UK financial services andthose without status are reluctant to approachservices for help and advice unless they are intheir own language and trusted community groups.Refugees will have access to the bankingsystem, however they may struggle initially to findemployment and rebuild their lives after an oftenprotracted period of time of uncertainty with few orunrecognised qualifications and little knowledge ofNorthern Ireland society.Taking these factors into account, the researchfound four typologies of financial inclusion amongstnew migrants;• Totally Excluded• Middle Excluded• Middle Included• Totally Included6.2. The main factorsaffecting the level offinancial inclusionamong new migrantscommunities in NorthernIreland and the maineffects of financialexclusionAlthough the research found a high level of accessto bank accounts; significant barriers to financialinclusion remain especially for those in low incomegroups who are at risk of exclusion from currentaccounts, credit cards, saving and loans fromformal providers.The main barriers to accessing services for allgroups are:• Language and a lack of translation/interpretation services in the Banks andBuilding Societies. This is in terms of faceto face transactions, meetings and writteninformation.• Unclear or impossible documentationrequirements.• A lack of coherent policy across the Banks andBuilding societies on who can open an accountandwhat type of account they can hold.

40Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen IrelandThe main effects of financial exclusion amongst themigrants appear to be:• Reliance on friends, acquaintances andwelfare services for help with financial services• Lack of information and take up of productssuch as high interest savings accounts• Loss of benefits such as a debit card whichcan be used online or in the shops• Reliance on carrying cash around or storing itin accommodation6.3 Is current policyeffective and relevantfor promoting financialinclusion among newmigrant communities?Current financial inclusion policy does not directlymention new migrants and their unique issueswhen trying to become financially included in theUnited Kingdom. Policy reviewed here is for lowincome groups which the majority of migrants inthis research would fit into.6.3.1 Access to financialproductsBanksThe majority of migrants do gain access to a basicbank account and this can be seen as a successin terms of financial inclusion policy. However, itis not the whole picture and it is clear from thisresearch that basic bank accounts are limited intheir scope and many new migrants found themfrustrating especially in relation to cards. Accessto these accounts can also be slow as migrantsdo not have the documentation required or haveto try many providers before they are accepted.Therefore, whilst this policy is largely effective atincluding new migrants, it is not always relevant totheir needs and more work needs to be done onimproving access to bank accounts.IdentificationThere is no legislation currently stating whichdocumentation a bank should require to enablepeople to open an account, instead each of thefinancial institutions can decide its own policy. Thisleads to a clear confusion for new migrants whohave a range of documentation which some bankswill not accept but others will. This policy of leavingthe banks to decide is not effective at promotingfinancial inclusion for new migrants and hinders theprocess of opening a bank account.SavingsThis research was conducted prior to theannouncement (in May 2010) that the Child TrustFund would no longer exist. The Child Trust Fundaimed to help people on low incomes to savemoney for the future. For some of the migrants whohad children born in the UK since they arrived theChild Trust Fund was a valuable resource and wasfor some a way into getting a formal account tosave money. However, given that some of thesemigrants may move home or to other placesbefore the child turns 18 it remains to be seen asto how useful this will be, and even where they areeligible for the Child Trust Fund they are unlikely tounderstand the terms and conditions if they do notspeak English.Affordable CreditWhilst Credit Unions have been seen as aneffective way for low income groups to get accessto credit and loans, there were only two migrants inthe sample for this research that were accessingtheir services. This means that in Northern Irelandthe Credit Unions are not reaching migrantcustomers. Low take up could be for a numberof reasons including a lack of understanding andknowledge of how Credit Unions operate, a lackof visibility on the high street, lack of English skillson the part of the migrant and the fact that a CreditUnion account may be seen as being too local andtherefore risky if the migrant intends to stay for ashort period of time only.Access to Advice and InformationThe Citizens Advice initiative has shown that thereis a high demand for advice and information fromnew migrants and established ethnic minoritycommunities. This bodes well for the new policyinitiatives around the ‘moneymadeclear’ servicewhich is available in Northern Ireland. Finding adviceon how to manage daily financial matters whilst inthe UK is one of the biggest priorities for migrantsentering the country. The ‘moneymadeclear’ serviceis therefore likely to be very relevant to new migrants,but it needs to ensure that materials and advice areaccessible to those who are not English speakers.The evaluation of the practical initiative clearlyshows that tailoring advice sessions to the needsof new migrants is effective in delivering trainingand helping to resolve issues. The followingare essential elements of a tailored service formigrants;

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 41• Advisers from the same community wherepossible• Interpretation and translation• Awareness of needs of new migrant groups• Cross referral from other migrant groups andorganisations avoiding duplication• Awareness of products and services includingwelfare benefits relevant to migrant workers6.4 What complimentaryor alternative policiesor practical initiativesmay improve financialinclusion amongst newmigrants in NI (and acrossthe UK)?This final research question is answered in thefollowing chapter which contains a number ofrecommendations coming out of this research.

42Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Ireland7. RECOMMENDATIONSRecommendations from the research andevaluation have been separated into threecategories; for Northern Ireland specifically; for UKwide financial institutions; and for UK Governmentand financial services agencies. These categoriesare intended to guide policy in these particularareas with a clear reason for each recommendationand a case for take up. These are not intendedto be overly critical of the financial sector; ratherthe recommendations that have been developedare designed to be beneficial to both the migrantcommunity and the financial sector.For each category identified a need for furtherresearch and investigation has been given so thatservices can be developed further in the future.7.1 For Northern IrelandAssembly, CommunityGroups and Credit UnionsRecommendation 1: Workingtogether with migrantcommunity groupsIt is clear from the research that certain migrantcommunities are well served by communityorganizations who they turn to for advice andsupport. The Chinese Welfare Association andPolish Cooltura in Belfast are two of many groupsproviding such help. These groups are run ona shoestring and rely heavily on volunteers, butwithout them many migrants would sink intototal exclusion. We recommend a closer link upbetween banks, government agencies and thesecommunity groups in terms of;• Funding and capacity buildingThere is clear evidence that migrants and otherBME groups feel more comfortable and trustingwhen they deal with a person from their owncommunity. One area that could be developedis the financial sector working with communitygroups to pay for the time of a community workerto provide translation, interpreting or advice inthe local branches at set times each week. This isparticularity relevant in Northern Ireland becauseof the smaller number of banks available. Forexample, recent research evidence 18 shows thatmigrants and BME groups who do not speakEnglish chose to open accounts in places such asBank of China who have Chinese speaking staffand literature rather than in a bigger UK nationalbank. As this is not an option in Northern Ireland,banks in area with high migrant communities needto ensure that they can meet their customer’sneeds providing information and advice inlanguages other than English.• Information and advice exchangeInformation exchange is clearly taking placealready in that several project respondents’commented that they had been recommended togo to a specific bank by their community group asthey had an account that would suit their needs.Community workers are clearly aware of banks whoare providing migrant friendly products, but in anad hoc manner. It would be beneficial to the banksand community groups if they could exchangeinformation in a more formal way. In this way thebanks would learn more about the current numbersof migrants in their area and the issues that theyface and the community groups could feedbackany issues as well as learn about banks productsand developments. In areas outside of Belfast thiscould be conducted through community groupswhere they exist or Citizens Advice where they donot.• Development of a one stop service ofreferrals used across community groupsThese would quickly send the migrant to the rightcentre for their needs as per the successful CABreferral scheme for the Financial Inclusion project,cutting down on duplication and allowing thecommunity organisations and charity groups toconcentrate on their areas of expertise.• Development of a web site for migrants inNorthern IrelandThis website could be maintained and managedby a local authority such as Belfast City Counciland would provide information and signpostingto migrants wanting to find out about life inNorthern Ireland. Local services and advicecentres should have an input into the site so thatthey can showcase initiatives and services in thearea. This would be beneficial to migrants who areplanning on coming to Northern Ireland as well asthose already here. The web pages in a variety oflanguages would provide links, basic informationsuch as the Migrants Guide to Money outlinedbelow and could include forums for migrants todiscuss issues and socialise. This is particularly

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 43important in Northern Ireland where migrants canbe dispersed in rural areas with no knowledgeof how to access advice services. This researchhas shown that many migrants have access to theinternet and use online sites to find information. Ifsuch a service was developed it could benefit localauthorities as they could run polls and surveysthrough the site finding out migrant opinion andsee what services they most require access to.Recommendation 2: Adviceand Support for new migrantsin rural areasWhilst Belfast is well served with advice centres,such as the Chinese Welfare Association, in ruralareas of the country the only advice service isoften the Citizens Advice Bureau. Many of theBureaus offer a workshop where a member of amigrant community is available once a week ormonth to help with translation and interpreting. Werecommend that;Citizens Advice looks into ways of funding greaterprovision of advice for new migrants acrossNorthern Ireland and should;1. Develop a range of advice leaflets in the mainlanguages of migrants in the local areas. Theseleaflets might be on how Citizens Advice canhelp, Bank Accounts, Benefits, Housing andEmployment rights. This would be beneficialto the staff in the local CAB offices who arecurrently not able to deal with migrant clientsas much as they would like to and would freeup staff time to deal with other issues.2. Consider the role of volunteers from migrantgroups who may be able to offer advice ona regular basis. If more than one volunteersinged up in each area the burden would belessened.Recommendation 3: CreditUnions should provideinformation tailored towardnew migrants to encouragetake upCredit Unions in Northern Ireland should examinewhere they can best offer services to new migrantgroups and ensure that they have informationavailable in a range of languages to encouragenew migrants to apply. This information could bemade available in migrant community centres andCitizens Advice Bureaus so that new migrants canbe made aware that Credit Unions are availableand the services that they offer to them. In areaswith a high number of migrant workers, thisapproach could gain more customers for the CreditUnions and for those migrants who intend to settlelong term a loyal customer base.7.2 For UK wide FinancialInstitutions (Banks andBuilding Societies)This project has shown that banks, buildingsocieties and credit unions could benefit fromdeveloping migrant specific services. Werecommend that the banks, building societies andcredit unions come together to form a workinggroup where best practice can be shared anddiscussed and products/services developed.This project will form such a working group withsenior banking executives to create a series ofrecommendations and best practice exampleswhich will be published separately to this reportspecifically aimed at the financial services sector.This is likely to include discussions/developmentof the following areas which were found by thisresearch to be of key concern to migrants inrelation to their banking:• Provision of key information translated intolanguages other than English• Account Terms and Conditions and essentialinformation on charges and complaints to begiven in languages other than English.• Access to an interpreter for customers who donot speak English.• Clarity around identification requirements formigrants• Development of Online Banking for migrantcustomers

44Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Ireland7.3 For the UKGovernment andassociated agencies (FSA)Recommendation 1:Development of a UK wide‘Migrants Guide to Money’This guide would be based on the successful‘Parents Guide to Money’ leaflet to be handed outby Employers, Job Centres and on application forthe Workers Registration Scheme. The guide wouldcontain;• Guide to UK Financial Institutions and systems• Guide to different types of bank accounts (thiscould use the ‘moneymadeclear’ guide)• Guide to Documentations needed toopen an account (again this could use‘moneymadeclear’)• Details of what information banks shouldprovide customers and what they can expect• Information on Saving, Credit and Loans• Explanation of UK Renting and HousePurchasing systemsRecommendation 2:Development of Basic BankAccounts to better serve theneeds of migrants (and otherlow income groups) who wishto use the accounts to eitherpay for tickets and goodsonline or transfer moneyabroad.Developing basic accounts so that they all provideaccess to a card which can be used for shoppingand online purposes would encourage take upand prevent confusion. This service is alreadyavailable as part of the basic bank account insome UK banks. This would stop the migrant fromopening an account and using it for a short periodof time before transferring to a Current Account,cutting administration for the banks and time andconfusion on the part of the migrant.• Guide to benefits and entitlements• Information on remittances and money transferoverseas• The guide should be available in a variety oflanguages.Once a generic template has been agreed, guidescould be produced by local authorities so that theycan be tailored to local needs such as differentbanks (in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)and different migrant communities.

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 458. NOTES1. http://www.icar.org.uk2. http://www.citizensadvice.co.uk/3. http://www.cesi.org.uk/4. A8 countries are: Czech Republic, Estonia,Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia,and Slovenia5. See Rahim et al at http://www.icar.org.uk/publications6. http://www.citizensadvice.co.uk/7. http://www.adviceni.net/8. http://www.lawcentreni.org/9. http://www.consumercouncil.org.uk/10. See http://www.consumercouncil.org.ukmoney-affairs/11. A8 countries are Poland, Lithuania, Latvia,Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Slovakiaand Slovenia. Romania and Bulgaria joinedthe EU in 2008 and are known as the A2countries, whose nationals have different rightsto those from A8 countries in terms of workingin the UK.12. See Appendix 2 for a full list13. This has been published as a standalonedocument on the ICAR web pages: http://www.icar.org.uk/publications14. See Appendix 1 for a full breakdown of thesample15. From the start of the research until July 2010ICAR was based at City University. After July2010 ICAR has been based at RunnymedeTrust.16. The evaluation methods are detailed inChapter 3 of this report.17. ‘Financial Inclusion is about ensuring everyonehas the opportunity to access the financialservices and products needed to participatefully in modern-day society and the economy.’(HM Treasury 2008)18. Mawhinney, 2010

46Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen Ireland9. REFERENCESAtkinson, A. (2006) ‘Migrants and FinancialServices: A review of the situation in the UnitedKingdom’. Personal Finance Research Centre.University of Bristol, Bristol.Bell, K. Jarman, N. and Lefebvre, T. (2004)‘Migrant Workers in Northern Ireland’. Institute forConflict Research. Belfast.BMRB (2006) ‘Access to Financial Services bythose on the Margins of Banking: Final Report forthe Financial Inclusion Taskforce’. BMRB, London.British Banking Association (2009) ‘Basic BankAccounts’ Quarter 4 2009, BBA, London. Availableonline: http://www.bba.org.uk/statisticsConsumer Council (2010) ‘Consumer 2010’Consumer Council. Belfast.Datta, K. (2007) ‘Money matters: Exploringfinancial exclusion among low paid migrantworkers in London’. Queen Mary University,London.Department for Employment and Learning(March 2009) ‘A Migrant Workers Strategyfor Northern Ireland’ DELNI, Belfast EqualityCommission for Northern Ireland and NCCRI (2004)North/South Roundtable on Migration. Belfast.Financial Services Authority (March 2006)‘Financial Capability in the UK: Establishing aBaseline’ Financial Services Authority, London.Financial Services Authority (2009) ‘ParentsGuide to Money: Evaluation’. Available online:http://www.cfebuk.org.uk/pdfs/pgm_report.pdfFinancial Services Authority (August 2009)‘Facts about the UK’s National Strategy forFinancial Capability: Building Financial Capabilityin the UK. Financial Services Authority, London.Available Online: http://www.cfebuk.org.uk/pdfs/fincap_factsheet.pdfGeraghty, T, McStravick, C and Mitchell, S (2010)‘New to Northern Ireland: A study of the bluesfaced by migrant, asylum seeking and refugeechildren in Northern Ireland’ NCB, London.HM Treasury (2007a) ‘Financial Capability: TheGovernments Long-term Approach’. The StationeryOffice, London.HM Treasury (2007b) ‘Financial Inclusion: TheWay Forward’. Norwich: Office for Public SectorInformation. The Stationery Office, London.HM Treasury (2007c) ‘Financial Inclusion: anaction plan 2008-2011’. Norwich: Office for PublicSector Information. The Stationery Office, London.Jarman, N. and Byrne, J. (2007) ‘New Migrantsand Belfast: An Overview of the DemographicContext, Social Issues and Trends’. Institute forConflict Research, Belfast.Khan, O. (2008) ‘Financial Inclusion and Ethnicity:An Agenda for Research and Policy Action’Runnymede Trust, London.Mawhinney, P. (2010) ‘Ready for Retirement?Pensions and Bangladeshi Self-employment’Runnymede Trust, London.Northern Ireland Statistics and ResearchAgency (2008a) ‘Statistics Press Notice – MigrationEstimates Northern Ireland’. NISRA. Belfast.Northern Ireland Statistics and ResearchAgency (2008b) ‘Long-term International MigrationEstimates for Northern Ireland’ (2006-7). NISRA.Belfast.Northern Ireland Statistics and ResearchAgency (NISRA) (June 2010) ‘Population andMigration Estimates Northern Ireland (2009) –Statistical Report’ NISRA, Belfast.Office of the First Minister and Deputy FirstMinister (July 2010) ‘Programme for Cohesion,Sharing and Integration’ Consultation Document.Available Online: http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/index/equality/community-relations/contentequality-newpage-csi.htmOffice for National Statistics (August 2010)‘Migration Statistics Quarterly Report’ ONS,London.Rahim, N., Wan, K. and Franceschelli, M. (2009)‘Financial Inclusion Amongst New Migrants inNorthern Ireland: A Literature Review’ ICAR,London.Regan and Paxton (2003) ‘Beyond BankAccounts: Full Financial Inclusion’ CAB & IPPR,London.

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 47APPENDIX 1: RESEARCH SAMPLECHARACTERISTICSParticipants were interviewed across NorthernIreland in Belfast (42), Portadown (5), Ennsikillen(3), Newry (4), Derry (3) and Omagh (7)Just over half of the sample was male, 55%compared to 45% female.They were from the following nationalities; Polish(18), Chinese (21), Portuguese (2), Romanian (2),Lithuanian (2), Czech (2), Indian (2), Filipino (2),Thai (2), Sudanese (2), and 1 Hungarian, Estonian,Spanish, South African, Ugandan, Sri Lankan,Latvian, East Timor.Graph 1: Migration status of the sampleNB: FAS = Failed asylum seekerThere was a good spread of migrants by arrivaltime in Northern Ireland as seen in Graph 2 below.

48Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northen IrelandGraph 2: Time of Arrival in Northern IrelandGraph 3 shows the age profile of the sample.(4 respondents did not answer this question)Graph 3: Age profile of the sample

Report by ICAR in collaboration with Citizens Advice Belfast 49APPENDIX 2: ORGANISATIONS ANDADVISORY GROUPWe are grateful to the following organisations whocontributed to the research.The Law Centre, BelfastBelfast City Council Good Relations UnitGEMSSouth Belfast Roundtable on RacismInstitute for Conflict ResearchCooltura Polish AssociationPolish AssociationNorthern Ireland Council for Refugees andAsylum Seekers (NICRAS)Chinese Welfare AssociationCraigavon Intercultural CentreThe Project Advisory Group were;Andrew Barnett (Chair) Calouste GulbenkianFoundationAdele Atkinson, Personal Finance ResearchCentre, University of Bristol (now OECD)Danielle Walker-Palmour, Friends ProvidentFoundationGerard Crofton-Martin and John Rhodes,Citizens Advice UKJulie McCurley, Consumer CouncilKavita Datta, Queen Mary’s UniversityMartin Coppack, CFEBOmar Khan, Runnymede TrustShahid Rahman, British Bankers AssociationBritish Red Cross, BelfastNorthern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities(NICEM)Citizens Advice Bureaus in Belfast, Dungannon,Portadown, Newry, Derry and EnniskillenOmagh Ethnic Communities Support GroupChallenge of Change ProgrammeConsumer Council for Northern Ireland

About the AuthorJulie Gibbs works as the SeniorResearch and Policy Analyst for ICAR atthe Runnymede Trust. Julie joined ICARin November 2008 and has since workedon a wide range of projects includingthe financial inclusion of new migrants inNorthern Ireland and the Cost of Qualityin asylum legal aid, published as ‘Justiceat Risk’. Julie also writes Briefings for theICAR web site and manages the ICARseminar series. Julie manages the day today running of the ICAR team and website and monitors funding opportunitiesfor the centre.Supported by the Calouste GulbenkianFoundation.Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees7 Plough Yard, London, EC2A 3LPT 020 7377 9222E icar@runnymedetrust.orgRunnymede7 Plough Yard, London, EC2A 3LPT 020 7377 9222E info@runnymedetrust.orgwww.icar.org.ukRegistered in England 3409935Registered Charity 1063609www.runnymedetrust.org