Sign the Savings Charter
The Savings Charter is a set of commitments that savings providers can sign up to, in order to help raise the profile of savings in the UK. It is part of the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing coordinated by the Money and Pensions Service.
What is the Savings Charter?
The Savings Charter offers savings providers the opportunity to amplify what they are already doing to raise the profile of saving and to signal what they intend to do, in line with one or more of five commitments.
The collective effort of the industry behind this common goal can help to build a Nation of Savers.
Helping build financial security through savings
Building a Nation of Savers is one of the core pillars of the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing. The Strategy, which is coordinated by the Money and Pensions Service, brings together partners from all sectors to improve the financial wellbeing of the UK population.
Over 10 years, the aim is to increase the number of regular savers who are of working age and on low-to-modest incomes by two million. The Savings Charter is one of the ways we are seeking to achieve this by raising the profile of saving in collaboration with banks, buildings societies, credit unions and fintech providers.
Is the Savings Charter right for my organisation?
Any savings provider is welcome to join.
We recognise that savings providers may have a customer base beyond those of working age and on low-to-modest incomes, however, we ask signatories to give due regard to savers from this target population when considering the Savings Charter commitments.
By signing the Savings Charter you can demonstrate that your organisation is committed to help people to save, and is part of an industry-wide initiative to build a Nation of Savers.
The five key commitments of the Savings Charter
Savings providers can sign up to any or all five commitments. We recognise that some may want to focus on one or more commitments rather than all five at the outset.
Publicly demonstrate a commitment to build financial security through savings
Savings providers should demonstrate their commitment to supporting consumers to save through their public actions and stated ambitions.
They should consider and be sensitive to financial pressures when engaging customers, especially those on low-to-modest incomes who have the means and the desire to build some financial resilience through regular saving.
Support individuals to save by understanding their financial situation and goals
Savings providers should make the best use of data, AI and innovation to nudge customers, especially those on low-to-modest incomes, into considering regular saving in line with their needs and goals.
This includes testing innovative savings approaches – such as autosave, loans-into-savings schemes or savings roundups – before rolling them out fully to targeted customer segments.
Give people access to their savings buffer when they need it
Savings providers should consider customer needs and vulnerabilities, especially for those on low-to-modest incomes or faced with financial uncertainty following a negative life event, by making savings built up in an emergency buffer fund as easy as possible to draw on in times of need.
Keep customers informed about their savings and their options as customers
Savings providers should continue building financial resilience among their customers who are already saving regularly.
This could be through engaging customers, within the scope of the Consumer Duty, to seek out better returns on their savings or to consider moving some of their savings into investments in line with their changing financial goals.
Talk about saving in your local communities, and places of education and work
Savings providers should highlight where they promote savings and financial resilience in the communities where they operate.
This could be through ESG activities – including volunteering – in financial education and wellbeing partnerships with community groups or educational institutions targeted at specific population segments.
It could also be through agreements in place with employers to offer payroll-deducted savings schemes, perhaps alongside other financial products, to their workers.
How to become a signatory
To express your interest in signing the Savings Charter, please complete this form:
Sign the Savings CharterOpens in a new window
We expect firms to demonstrate how they have met their stated ambitions, including targets, in updates to feature in corporate reports and associated communications.
How we created the Savings Charter
We engaged a small working group of savings providers representing banks, building societies, credit unions and the fintech industry to draft the Savings Charter. Our focus has been on ensuring the five commitments are as inclusive as possible of the savings sector and of consumer needs.
We considered the potential impact of the Consumer Duty, advances in the use of technology and innovation and future developments in ESG in finalising the commitments.