How do you open a bank account without an address?

Bank accounts are key to financial inclusion

Catching Lives is working in partnership with Shelter and HSBC to break the cycle of financial exclusion

Among the many challenges facing people who are homeless, one common issue is the lack of a bank account. When people are sleeping rough or moving between insecure temporary addresses, vital documents like ID are often lost, damaged or stolen – and how do you get a proof of address while homeless? We often find that people using our day centre have been turned down by banks, creating a catch-22 where the realities of being homeless are the very same things preventing people from getting a home.

Without a bank account it’s much harder to secure housing or a job, so people become increasingly financially and socially excluded. People resort to having wages or benefits paid into someone else’s account, taking away their independence and creating a high risk of financial exploitation.

Catching Lives has always offered people a care-of address, and we’d been looking for a way to go further with tackling financial exclusion. In April this year, we signed up to Shelter’s ‘Breaking the Cycle’ programme which is partnered with HSBC’s ‘No Fixed Address’ service. This allows us to accompany someone we are supporting on an ongoing basis to an appointment at the Canterbury branch, acting as a referee in order to open a basic bank account. This allows people to have control over their money as well as all the other things that you need a bank account for, including saving money for a deposit and household essentials, and setting up direct debits for rent and bills. These practical steps, that many of us can take for granted, are an important part of people rebuilding their lives after the stress and disruption of homelessness.

Since signing up to the Breaking the Cycle and the No Fixed Address scheme, 9 of our clients have already opened accounts with our help and this has had an immediate positive impact on their situation. We’ve been pleased to hear positive feedback from people using the scheme about the respect and attention shown by staff at the bank.

After using the scheme, one person told us: “It’s great to be the same level as everyone else. I can feel like doors are opening for me. I can save now, plan a future and be part of the rat race. It was easy and painless. A great help.”

Catching Lives welcomes this week’s announcement that Shelter’s scheme is being expanded to include Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays, Santander and Nationwide.

We’d like to thank the staff at HSBC Canterbury branch for making the process simple and quick. We look forward to continuing to work with HSBC, Shelter and the newly announced participating banks to support more people to achieve financial inclusion in the future.