Money Guiders: Case study with Northern Community Bank

Credit unions are often lenders of last resort. We are always working with people who are financially excluded and it is important for us to be able to deliver something extra, not just say ‘no’ and refuse a loan. We signpost and give extra guidance to people who need it.

In 2023, changes to Consumer Duty came into effect. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) outlined a set of consumer protection standards that those working in the financial services industry must follow. This meant that we had to make sure that our customers understood everything that was being said to them and to signpost to other tools and resources if we could not help.

So for that reason, it made sense to start the Money Guiders programme – it was another way to help us implement these changes to Consumer Duty. Credit unions are so much more than a financial institution that issue loans and savings.

I also wanted to join the Money Guiders programme because it looked interesting.

Another buy-in point for me was that Money Guiders is a free self-development resource backed by UK Government. Government backed programmes tend to be heavily researched, which means that you can ensure your staff are doing the correct things.

Only 20 hours were needed to complete the course too and I remember thinking ‘that’s not a big time commitment to give.’ I have actually completed more than 20 hours now, but that is because I want to give more time to the programme – I absolutely love it!

So first of all, my role is not a customer-facing role – I am a Compliance Manager. However, I can still actively deliver money guidance because of what my role involves.

For example, I am responsible for reviewing all the comms within our organisation, training staff, dealing with complaints and setting up processes. I can make sure that money guidance is present in all those areas, which then makes things easier for the people in our customer-facing roles.

That was how I initially wanted to use Money Guiders within our organisation, but when I started looking at the different departments, such as Marketing, Credit Control and Payments, I began to see how they could use Money Guiders differently.

The Marketing Department are not necessarily customer-facing, but they create all of the comms, website and social media content, so is it not important that they are aware of money guidance and know how to deliver it?

The Money Guiders Competency Framework is a really amazing resource and it helped me to map everything out. The framework outlines the core competencies needed to provide a safe, quality service for customers.

As it is designed for anyone who provides any type of money guidance, I took every role within our credit union and mapped it out against the Competency Framework. This was really beneficial as it showed me how many hours each role would need to complete the programme and how to manage it correctly. I am also considering how we can apply this to our member journey.

At Northern Community Bank, we have seen lots of benefits as a result of the Money Guiders programme. I think it would be best to divide it into four aspects:

The Learning Hub definitely boosted the confidence level of our staff. It gave them all the skills and confidence they needed to speak to our members. 

The Learning Hub has also helped us to ensure that our staff know the difference between money advice and money guidance, the former of which is a regulated activity.

The Network Hub is amazing for development, networking and signposting. There are lots of different groups on the Network Hub and as credit unions, we need to be networking with people and organisations to be able to successfully signpost and help people.

The Money Guiders community is also made up of charitable organisations and Housing Associations – all people you would like to get in touch with as a credit union to work together. Money Guiders has enabled us to reach those people.

There are lots of webinars, conferences and events that you are invited to as part of the Money Guiders programme. Every month you get a calendar with all of the different webinars, the titles of which are absolutely amazing. I have recently been on one about lasting power of attorney and how to find out more about paper payments.

These are the sort of webinars that we as credit unions need to be attending, but they are often very costly. Now that we are part of the Money Guiders community, we get access to them free-of-charge.

MoneyHelperOpens in a new window is the Money and Pension Service’s consumer-facing service and the website is an amazing resource. It gives you all the content you need to deliver money guidance, so whenever you are speaking to a customer who is facing difficulty, you can go on the MoneyHelper website and find lots of tools and resourcesOpens in a new window that can help.

It is very reliable - all of the links are on there and everything is checked to make sure it is up to date. I particularly like the budget plannerOpens in a new window, savings calculatorOpens in a new window and the Money Midlife MOTOpens in a new window. I always find the last one funny, but they are all good visual tools to help people assess their current financial situation and plan for the future.

Overall, Money Guiders has given us so many different benefits. I can’t find any weaknesses with the programme – I honestly can’t!

I would want to ask credit unions ‘why are you not on it already?’

The Money Guiders programme is exactly what credit unions need. We are not-for-profit organisations and therefore do not have a lot of time, money or resources. Money Guiders is offering you continuous learning for your staff free-of-charge.

So, if anyone from a credit union would ask me to recommend it, I would say go on the website and sign-up todayOpens in a new window, because that is what you need to be doing.

It is not only credit unions that I would recommend Money Guiders to however, it is for any organisations that care about their customers and would like to do a little bit more to help.

I think that it is particularly important in today’s world, where we are using AI to automate everything. It is important to have human interaction and to build a sense of community where we can all help one another. I think that Money Guiders is the perfect programme to help do this.

Find out more and join our free and supportive UK Money Guiders community.