Modern slavery victims will be able to open HSBC bank accounts

HSBC UK has launched a tailored application process to offer basic current accounts to modern slavery victims
PA Wire/PA Images

Victims of modern slavery will be able to open bank accounts without traditional identification documents under a new scheme.

Nearly 7,000 people were referred to UK authorities as potential victims of human trafficking last year, according to the National Crime Agency.

Having a bank account can help victims trapped by poverty, as it is a requirement for most payroll and even zero-hours contract jobs. All traditional application processes require documentation such as proof of address and a passport, but traffickers often steal victims’ passports, and they live in safe houses which do not count as proof of address.

Now HSBC UK has launched a tailored application process to offer basic current accounts to victims.

The bank’s charity partners will introduce survivors to specially trained staff who will help them through the process, which has been piloted in Nottingham and Glasgow over the past year.

More than 20 former victims opened accounts during the pilot, and from this week it will be on offer at HSBC Bishopsgate in the City.

Victims applying through the new scheme have to be accompanied by a registered staff member for a partner charity, who will need to bring their own passport. A signed headed letter from the charity, and the ability to use their address for correspondence, is also required.

Holland Park-based migrant worker charity Kalayaan is one of the charities working on the scheme.

Director Rita Gava said: “Kalayaan has accompanied several of our clients to banks along the high street but has always been turned away. The impact this can have on victims can be hugely damaging to their recovery and can often result in victims giving any money they may have to friends or acquaintances, taking away control over the financial affairs.”

Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability Victoria Atkins said: “HSBC’s services for survivors will prove invaluable to those who don’t currently have the credentials to set up their own bank accounts.”

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