Banking on Change campaign

2 minute read time.

'It would help relieve the pressure' - Miranda Benney, Macmillan Nurse

We’re counting on your support

Last week we launched our Banking on Change campaign to make sure that people affected by cancer get the right support from their bank or building society.

Can you sign our letter and share our campaign on social media to help us reach more people and raise awareness of the issue?

What’s the problem?

Four out of five people feel the financial impact of cancer, and find themselves, on average, £570 a month worse off.

On top of everything else people with cancer must deal with, finances are often one more worry. But there’s a lack of consistency in the support available to people from banks and building societies.

Most people with cancer don’t tell their bank about their cancer, or feel unable to ask for help, even though their bank might be able to provide support to stop them falling into financial difficulty.

We believe this is partly because banks don’t have a legal duty of care to their customers, which means people with cancer don’t know what kind of reaction they might get if they tell their bank about their diagnosis.

While there has been progress in the sector – some as a result of Macmillan’s work with partners such as Nationwide Building Society and Lloyds Banking Group – Macmillan’s research shows that too many people with cancer still aren’t getting the help they need from their bank to manage their finances when they are ill.

What are we doing to change this?

Macmillan’s ‘Make money one less worry’ campaign aims to make sure that people know about the financial impact of cancer and can access the support they need from financial services providers, the NHS, Governments and beyond - but we can’t do it alone.

We’re calling on the Government to change the law so that financial services providers have a duty of care towards their customers.

With Macmillan Nurse Miranda Benney, we’ve written an open letter to UK Finance – the trade body representing many banks and other financial service providers – urging them to support a duty of care.

Please add your name to the letter and share it so we can show how many people support the duty of care. You can also read more about the campaign here.

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