Barclays 2005 Annual Report Download - page 17

Barclays PLC
Annual Report 2005 15
1.5
and a customer focused business. Absa’s
brand health scores are among the highest
in South Africa.
Financial Inclusion
In 2005 we have made good strides in
advancing the Financial Inclusion agenda.
Absa’s Mzansi low-cost bank account is
part of an initiative by South Africa’s banks
to provide access to full-service banking
within 15km of all South Africans.
The account has been a great success since
launch late in 2004 and in August 2005
Absa launched the Mzansi Money Transfer
service to provide a low-cost, reliable,
secure and instant means of sending
money anywhere in the country.
In Ghana, Barclays is piloting a microfinance
initiative supporting Susu collection – one
of Africa’s oldest forms of banking. Susu
collection is widely used by small business
owners such as market traders, and the
microfinance initiative provides Susu collectors
with deposit accounts and loans to on-lend,
as well as training for the Susu collectors and
financial education for the traders.
In the UK we have launched a number of
direct initiatives addressing improved access
to financial education and advice, banking
services and affordable credit, and provided
support via other organisations. In 2005
we launched Barclaycard Horizons, a £3m
programme to help overindebted lone
parents with practical support, including
money management advice, training and
help to get back to work. We have also
continued to work closely with Credit
Unions and Community Development
Finance Institutions which provide basic
lending and saving services.
Our Cash Card Account, a basic current
account that gives people access to
banking without an overdraft facility, has
continued to grow. This account, designed
to be accessible and easy to manage, now
has over 379,000 customers. We have
also continued our financial support for
the Post Office Card Account which
enables people to open an account, pay
in benefits and access money through
Post Offices.
Responsible Lending
Our commitment to responsible lending
includes providing straightforward information
that makes the terms of a loan absolutely
clear, so that the customer understands the
full implications for them, and then applying
strict, sensible criteria about how much we
lend to any individual. ‘Summary boxes’ have
been added to our Barclaycard and personal
loan statements to set out clearly interest rates
and repayment information.
In December 2005 we were a prime mover
behind a new industry-wide scheme in the
UK to share more information about how
people are managing their accounts. The
shared data will help us to make better
lending decisions and to help us spot
customers who may be starting to have
difficulties managing their borrowing.
Environmental Impacts
Since co-founding and adopting the
Equator Principles in 2003, our approach
to environmental and social risks in project
finance has continued to develop.
The Equator Principles direct banks to carry
out full environmental risk assessments on
any project over $50m in size and take
appropriate action depending on the risks.
We go further than the Principles state by
applying them to all medium or high risk
projects regardless of size.
Our approach to direct environmental
impacts is also well developed. We operate a
central environmental management system
to monitor and improve our performance,
and this is certified to the international
standard ISO14001:2004. We have separate
ISO systems in Barclaycard, Barclays Spain
and Barclays Portugal.
We have made a commitment to making our
UK operations fully carbon neutral by 2007
by offsetting our remaining CO2emissions.
We will be doing this by investing in
sustainable energy projects and community-
based energy efficiency schemes.
Employee Welfare
Our business is only as good as the people in
it. To achieve our ambitious goals we must
have a diverse and committed workforce.
Absa was one of the first banks in South
Africa to implement new equity ownership
rules associated with Black Economic
Empowerment (BEE), allocating 10% of its
total share capital to Batho Bonke (Absa’s
BEE partner), in the form of redeemable
cumulative option-holding preference
shares. The members of Batho Bonke
include broad-based empowerment
companies, community-based development
trusts or foundations, individuals who have
not previously benefited on a large scale
from BEE initiatives, emerging entrepreneurs
and groups promoting the empowerment of
women and youth. Absa is working towards
the diversity objectives of the South African
Financial Sector Charter.