3 March 2010
Local Building Society triumphs in FairBanking Awards
Saffron Building Society, the regional mutual serving East Anglia, has come out on top of the recently published by research-based charity, FairBanking.
Saffron beat off competition from larger banks and building societies to be awarded the highest rating of any financial product in the UK.
The Goal Saver account is designed to encourage savers to place money in different 'pots' for different events, from holidays to an emergency fund, giving them more control over the allocation of their money longer term. It's an online service and can be found at www.saffronbs.co.uk/savings
FairBanking rates products according to their ability to help users improve their financial position; either through managing expenditure, reducing debt or increasing savings for future needs.
Saffron Chief Executive Andy Golding explains:
"The FairBanking ratings system will give people the ability to tell whether a product will treat them fairly or get them in to trouble. It will also make providers ask: are we developing products to empower people to mange their money in a better way? At Saffron we want to help people achieve their savings goals. Our Goal Saver account allows members to place their savings into pots and to play with interactive sliders to see the results of saving more per month or for a longer period of time. "
However, Andy is not surprised that larger providers and banks have 'failed' the FairBanking test, and says:
"If you are predominately making money out of getting people in to debt, then it becomes difficult to meet the FairBanking criteria".
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