Barclays goes behind bars to recruit new customers

Money Laundering .......????

It seems reasonable in the interests of rehabilitation that prisoners near the end of their sentence are helped to manage their money. I note that this reduces re-offending rates, and I would assume safeguards are in place to prevent abuses such as money laundering.

If there was any justice in the world they should be teaching their ex CEO's how to improve their money mismanagement skills but sadly they aren't locked up mores the pity.

I generally think that this is a good thing but related to this I have personal knowledge of someone sectioned in a mental hospital who was sold an £8000 loan and of course the money was never paid back. So if the banks are going to let prisoners have bank accounts it has got to be monitored and managed.

Providing it is done with integrity, honesty & genuine motives, would have my support.

.....and yet fully solvent Brit expats living abroad have almost no chance of opening an onshore UK account for perfectly normal and legal usage. Forced to bank offshore with less depositor protection, and yet when the proverbial hits the fan a la Icelandic banks, suddenly we are portrayed as "tax dodgers"

We live with some very silly bank policies.

Let us hope that this is another small step to remind bankers of why most of their founders were Quakers. People trusted them, knew that they would get their money back so were happy for those people to look after their money for them. Especially back at the beginning of the 19 century those early banking families also had very strong social consciensies and, with part of the money they made PLUS their time, they strove to improve the lives of the 'less fortunate' whether it be abolishing slavery or improving conditions in hospitals, education, the workplace AND PRISONS. Elizabeth Fry, from one of the Barclays families, is the most famous in prison reform for starting the work of improving the lot for women in prison but at the same time male members of the Barclays families were helping the male side.

Is this latest move by Barclays a small move towards their moral responsiblity for helping people in the country less well off or just another attempt at getting some good FREE publicity, more customers and an increase in profits?

I would like to think the former but regret more likely to be the latter.

Bankers seem to have forgotten the terrible trouble they got themselves (and most of the rest of the world) into by giving loans(mortgages) to trailer park trash(sub-prime mortgages anyone?) - who were unlikely to ever pay them back. Now they wan't to extend their market by dealing with even more dubious 'customers'. These people are - by definition - criminals. I've not got any shares in barclays - not going to either after this idea.