Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to encourage the banking sector to improve financial inclusion for Gypsies and Travellers.

The Government is committed to ensuring that individuals, regardless of their background or income, have access to useful and affordable financial products and services. The Equality Act 2010 protects all individuals, including Gypsies and Travellers, against racial and other forms of discrimination.

The Payment Accounts Regulations 2015 require the nine largest personal current account providers in the UK to offer fee-free basic bank accounts to customers who do not have a bank account or who are ineligible for a bank’s standard current account. The regulations also state that when a customer applies for an account, firms must not discriminate by reason of the customer’s place of residence, and that the conditions applicable to holding a basic bank account must not be discriminatory.

In order to open a basic bank account, firms will need to verify their customers’ identities, which generally includes verifying their addresses. While the way in which firms choose to do this is not stipulated in law or by the regulator, firms are assisted in making such policies through industry produced guidance notes. For the financial institutions, these are the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) guidance notes.

The JMLSG guidance notes acknowledge that if Travellers are not able to produce standard identification evidence, and if verification of address is necessary, a check with the local authority, which has to register travellers’ sites, may sometimes be helpful.

More widely, the Government has also committed to establish a Financial Inclusion Policy Forum, which will provide leadership and ensure collaboration across government and with the sector in tackling financial exclusion.