Supporting Micro-Finance

Bank of Scotland Community Banking operates exclusively with the UK not-for-profit (NFP) sector and is the largest lender into this sector.

Our Community Banking team provides funding and administrative support to a number of specialist credit providers in the voluntary sector.  Our customer base includes housing associations, social enterprises, Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), charities and credit unions.  We are therefore uniquely placed to develop sustainable partnerships that can develop long-term solutions to financial exclusion.
 
Bank of Scotland Community Banking has invested in excess of £8m to Community Development Finance Initiatives. We are the Many projects have also levered government funds on the basis of HBOS seed funding.

Case Study: East Lancashire Moneyline (ELM)

ELM, a Community Development Finance Initiative, provides access to credit and debt advice for low-income individuals in Blackburn unable to access mainstream credit.  Typically, ELM customers rely on state benefits using small "home credit" loans to pay for day-to-day living costs.  Our Community Banking team provides the systems that allow ELM to offer its customers the opportunity to start saving.

ELM is, in effect, operating a micro-credit scheme with our help.  For example, a customer borrowing £250 over 52 weeks would have a weekly loan repayment of £5.37.  By  rounding up to £8.00, the customer would be able to save £2.63 per week and build up over £136 in savings over the loan period.