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Church ‘advice’ scheme for those in financial distress

Your Money
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Your Money
Posted:
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05/12/2014

Hector Sants, who headed the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for five years, has introduced a Church of England ‘advice’ scheme aimed at helping those in “financial distress”.

The Church Credit Union Network (CCUN) will bring together churches, communities and credit unions in an attempt to challenge the prominence of payday lenders.

The BBC reports the initiative will see church members trained to offer responsible guidance on financial matters.

Launching CCUN on Tuesday, Sants, who was chief executive of the FSA between 2007 and 2012, said its goal was “to promote responsible credit and savings”.

“We are not seeking to solve the whole problem but rather to identify a set of practical and achievable actions, through which the church community can make a difference,” he said.

A pilot CCCN scheme is launching in three areas: the dioceses of London, Southwark and Liverpool.

Trained individuals will use church buildings to help people with new accounts, or advise customers on how to apply for a loan, according to the BBC.

Sants said part of the scheme would be direct service provision, though he described this as “a complex area”.

“For the moment therefore may I just say we are asking the question: could the Church community be encouraged to save and borrow within itself, using the opportunities provided by new technology, for example in peer to peer lending?”