Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northern Ireland - ICAR

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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.
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Financial Inclusion amongst New Migrants in Northern Ireland - ICAR

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