Nationwide has become the first building society to receive the ‘Advanced’ rating of the Mental Health Accessible accreditation from the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute.
This is the second of three progressively more demanding levels of accreditation an organisation can achieve through the scheme.
The ‘Advanced’ rating is based on an assessment by Money and Mental Health of how accessible Nationwide's services, communications and products are for people with mental health problems. This includes interviews with Nationwide’s colleagues and incorporated feedback from Money and Mental Health’s Research Community of ‘experts by experience’ on how Nationwide’s services could be improved.
As a result, Nationwide has taken steps to make its services easier to use and more supportive for customers experiencing mental health problems, including:
• Delivering training and resources for colleagues, focusing on lived experience insight, to highlight circumstances or challenges customers with mental health problems may face and how Nationwide can support them. This included new tools to assist colleagues supporting customers in vulnerable or high-risk circumstances.
• Designing and embedding a simplified process for identifying, recording and supporting customers across a range of circumstances and support needs.
• Going beyond signposting – Nationwide’s specialist support team can also refer customers to Mental Health UK, who will provide 1-2-1 support from a specialist who understands mental health.
Money and Mental Health’s Mental Health Accessible programme works with firms to help them understand the difficulties customers with mental health problems can face using their services, and how they can improve support.
The programme was established after Money and Mental Health’s research found that customers with mental health problems face serious difficulties when engaging with essential services.
For example, more than half of people with mental health problems face serious difficulties using the phone to carry out essential admin, and four in ten have severe ‘admin anxiety’ – which can make it extremely challenging to manage their accounts and to communicate with firms when something goes wrong.
Money and Mental Health wants to work with other building societies, banks and essential services firms, to help them understand the challenges their customers with mental health problems face and take steps to improve the services they offer. It does this through reviewing communications, testing products and digital accessibility and improving disclosure environments — all of which the FCA highlighted as important for financial services to act upon in its recent review of firms' treatment of customers in vulnerable circumstances
Helen Undy, chief executive of Money and Mental Health, said: “We’re delighted that Nationwide has become the first building society to achieve the ‘Advanced’ level of our Mental Health Accreditation. We’re really impressed with the progress it has made to make its services more supportive for people with mental health problems, and we will continue to work with them to build on this.
“When you’re struggling with your mental health, communicating with your bank or building society can be a stressful and energy-draining experience. Common symptoms like feeling easily overwhelmed or having difficulty processing information can make this process feel like an uphill climb. But Nationwide has demonstrated that firms can take steps to recognise the challenges that customers with mental health problems may face and to adapt their support, products, communications and services accordingly.
“With 1 in 4 people experiencing a mental health problem each year, it’s vital that firms have services which are accessible and inclusive to a large proportion of their customer base. Money and Mental Health is keen to work with other firms across the financial services and essential services sectors to improve their services for customers with mental health problems, whether that’s through our Accreditation programme or through bespoke projects, including for smaller firms.”
Kathryn Townsend, Nationwide’s head of customer vulnerability, commented: “We recognise there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to supporting customers with mental health problems. We are proud to be working with the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute and their community of people with lived experience of mental health conditions as we continue to take steps to make our services easier to use and more supportive. We are delighted to have become the first building society to achieve the ‘advanced’ mental health accessibility rating because it is further tangible evidence of Nationwide making banking fairer and accessible for all.”
