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Barclays Credit UnionProgramme Application Form

Barclays Credit Union Programme Application FormYear 4 - 2018 Unrestricted distribution

Barclays and Credit Unions

About Your Organisation

About Your Credit Union

Key Financial Data

Products and Services

Supporting members with money management and delivering financial education

Assessing Development Needs

Development Strategy

Additional Information Required

Further Information for Applicants

Annexes

Barclays Credit Union Programme Application FormYear 4 - 2018 1Unrestricted distribution

Barclays and Credit UnionsBarclays is a proud supporter of the credit union sector. Since 2004, we have given over £4 million to community finance in the UK, supporting over 100 credit unions and CDFIs to innovate and grow.

We are now inviting applications for the final year of this 4 year Barclays programme providing £1m of professional training and support for credit unions throughout the UK. It is focusing on increasing the capacity, skills and resilience of credit unions to grow and become more effective and sustainable organisations benefitting even more households. Thirty credit unions have now received robustly evaluated training and direct support. Their very positive feedback as well as our own evaluation work is showing how this has greatly helped them build their skills and ability to serve the needs of their local communities.

This is a last opportunity for your credit union also to benefit from this programme.

The programme is open to all credit unions in the UK, regardless of affiliation. Through this programme, we aim to encourage collaboration, identification and sharing of best practice, and the development and enhancement of key skills and operational practices to promote growth and improvements across the sector. This in turn will allow credit unions to better meet the financial needs of their members and support more financially excluded and underserved households to manage their money and access and use appropriate financial services. It is being delivered through a number of expert delivery partners: Toynbee Hall, ACE Credit Union Services and UKCreditUnions Ltd, with the involvement of staff and senior executives from within Barclays. The programme is being independently evaluated by the Financial Inclusion Centre.

The programme funds a team of specialists who work with participating credit unions to explore their key support needs and priorities and then develop and deliver tailored training and support that will help make a sustainable impact in the sector, improving the skills and capabilities of selected credit unions and their members across the UK. This is a collaborative learning programme; we are robustly evaluating the delivery methods and impact so we can identify what works for wider sharing. We welcome applications from CUs at different points in development (i.e. very new, more mature) and the training programme will be adjusted to fit their needs.

Key focus areas:

The Barclays Credit Union Programme operates across two key areas:

1. Capacity Building: Building capacity of selected credit unions to support Directors, senior staff and other personnel to improve their core skills, capabilities and operational practices, across themes such as; risk management, financial planning, governance, lending operations, customer service and many more.

2. Financial Capability: Improving financial capability and resilience through the provision of financial guidance skills training, support and tools for credit union staff and volunteers. Credit unions can then target those segments of credit union membership who are struggling with their finances and may be more likely to default or be rejected for lending.

About the financial capability training offer: The programme uses information from initial programme screening and assessment days, Board and staff sessions, focus groups and telephone conversations to formulate a


flexible and innovative package of training support and resources suitable for each participating credit union.Toynbee Hall will work with your Board and staff team to understand the needs of your local community and members, your skills, knowledge and capacity around supporting financial capability, and your aspirations for improving the financial health of your membership and wider community. Essentially, you help shape the programme to meet your own needs.

The programme will give you additional skills and deeper insight into how your everyday work can have a powerful impact on the financial resilience of your members, regardless of which product or service is being discussed, or the state of the person's finances. It speaks to the founding principle of credit unions as "encouragers of thrift"; the training and resources will give you practical and effective ways to help members (and potential members) improve their financial resilience. Participating credit unions can expect to achieve the following outcomes through the financial capability training and support:• Have a clear understanding of financial capability and understand the relationship with financial inclusion.• Understand the benefits to your credit union of improving members’ financial capability.• Identify your barriers to financial capability work and know how to overcome them.• Identify opportunities for developing financial capability and increased learning through the way you communicate.• Know how to use a range of resources to help with financial education delivery and money guidance support.• Know the benefits and opportunities, and know how to use the programme resources to provide financial capability support to declined members.

Barclays-specific support: A core part of the programme is the commitment of time and expertise from our Barclays colleagues. Where possible each participating credit union will be linked with a local branch partner, as well as given access and support to a variety of subject matter experts across the bank based on their specific support and development needs. The training provided will be face to face with the support of Barclays colleagues. We will minimse overlap with existing training initiatives, by tailoring the training to the CU.

The selection criteria will be based on a number of factors, including level of development of the credit union and appropriateness of our resources to the credit union’s specific needs and development priorities.

The application and selection process: This application is for year four of the programme which will run between 1st April 2018 and 31st March 2019. We will select a number of credit unions at the beginning of the programme year, but please note that we will providing the training on a rolling basis throughout the 12 month period.

We very much hope that you will consider applying to take part in this exciting opportunity to access high quality and robustly evaluated training and support which will help your credit union adapt to the new regulatory environment, strengthen your governance and commercial knowledge and skills, and support your community in building stronger money management and financial resilience skills and behaviours. We welcome applications from a collaboration of multiple CUs, however, one CU is required to be the lead contact. Please email us at the address below if you wish to submit a collaborative bid.


The application deadline for Year 4 will close at 5.00 pm on 19th February 2018. Applications will only be received via email; hard copies will not be accepted.

Please send your completed application to:

[email protected]

We look forward to hearing from you.


mailto:[email protected]

Section A: About your Organisation

Registered name

FRN NumberRegistered address

Operational address (if different)

Tel No (main switchboard number)

Website

Year established

Year-end date

Affiliated to trade body? Please state which

Main contact details for this programmeEmail:

Mobile or direct line telephone number:

Are you intending to participate in any other projects or initiatives (e.g. other funded projects, mergers, etc.) over the same time frame as this programme? (Please give details and explain how this will not impact upon your capacity to participate on the programme.)


Section B: About your Credit UnionPlease provide information correct as at date of latest Annual Return

Description of common bond(live, work, employee, association)

Estimate of eligible common bond adult members

Number of members(Note: please provide data for accounts that have been active in the past 12 months. Please exclude dormant accounts.

Please provide data for last 3 years

Year Adult Junior TotalCurrent 1 year ago2 year ago

Number of staff (current) Full time equivalent (FTE)Full timePart time

Number of volunteers (current)


Section C: Key Financial Data Current value (as at latest date of Annual

Return)

Value 1 year ago Value 2 years ago

Non-deferred shares

Deferred shares

Loans

Total Assets

Share to loan ratio

Capital to Asset ratio

Liquidity ratio

Reserves

Dividend levels

Income from grants and donations

Operating expenditure (excluding bad debts)

General other income*

Total income

Surplus/loss

1-3 months 3 – 12 months 12 months +

Total arrears

* This includes entrance fees, interest from loans to members, bank interest, other investment income, profit on sale of investment and assets, insurance commission, annual membership fees, bad debts recovered, admin charges for juvenile deposits and ancillary service charges.

Barclays will not use this information for anything other than this programme and will not share it with any other parties.


Section D: Products and Services In this section please provide brief description of products and services you offer to members.

Product/Service Description of each type of productSavings accounts (please list each product)

Credit products (please list each product)

Transactional bank account/current account (please list each product including pre-paid card if you offer one)

.

Insurance products offered to members


Section E: Supporting members with money management and delivering financial education**Money management support – this can be 1-2-1s, workshops, drop-in sessions, information leaflets, etc.

We understand that it may be difficult to find the time to prioritise money guidance for credit union members. Through this programme of support, we aim to help your credit union find right fit approaches to doing so. In this section, it would be useful to briefly tell us about:

A. Any current money management support that you offer to members of your credit union (250 word max).

B. Any barriers (e.g. lack of staff capacity or time) which currently restrict your ability to provide money management support to members (250 word max).


c. Please tell us about any barriers your credit union experiences or any recurring issues you face when delivering money management support. You can choose from the list below or tell us in your own words in the text box below (max 250 words). For those you have indicated “Y”, please rank in order, 1 being the most significant barrier, 14 being the least significant.

Please indicate (Y/N)

Please rank

(1-14)Not enough time

Lack of adequate/appropriate space

Not enough experience or knowledge of how to support someone with money

Not enough staff or volunteers to do this work

Lack of strategy to deliver this work

Lack of knowledge of local community and where to signpost/refer

Lack of partnerships with other local organisations

Low confidence of staff/volunteers

Lack of interest among members in this work

Inadequate marketing

Not enough funding/resources

Little capacity for continual development

Do not see money management support as a CU role

Other (please use the text box below)

d. Please tell us about the kinds of financial challenges your members and wider community are facing, so we can design an appropriate financial capability support plan.


Section F: Assessing Development NeedsThis programme is about supporting selected credit unions to build capacity. To help us do this, we need to assess which areas of your operations would benefit most from the capacity building programme. Please:

1. Rank from 1 to 11 in terms of importance which of the following operational areas you think would benefit most from capacity building support. 1 means the most important, 11 means the least important; and

2. Based on a scale of 1 – 4, please tell us how you rate your current effectiveness in this area

1 = needs improvement; 2 = average; 3 = good; 4 = very good.

Please read explanatory notes in Annex 2 for further description of operational areas before ranking and assessing current effectiveness.

Operational Area Importance

(Rank 1 – 11)

Effectiveness

(Rate 1-4)Capital management Loan book managementRisk management Understanding good governance, board professional developmentStaff and volunteer developmentPolicies and proceduresLegal and regulatory issues (prudential and conduct of business) Product development Service issues and complaint handlingMeasuring and reporting social impactMarketing

Other training requiredIf your credit union requires training in areas other than those listed above, please state in the box below:


Section G: Development StrategyIn the following section, please tell us what you think are the three key challenges facing your credit union. Please outline using between 250 and 750 words any current strategy to develop your credit union and strengthen your current membership base including whether you plan to offer new products.


Section H: Additional information requiredIn addition to the information supplied in this application form, we would ask you to provide the following reports (as at date of latest annual return):

1. Current Strategic/Business Plan (if you have one)2. Latest annual return to PRA3. Latest audited accounts


Annex 1: Frequently Asked Questions1. Can we pick and choose between capability and capacity themes? Do we really have to do both strands?No, you cannot pick and choose between the two, every participating credit union will receive training for both strands of the programme. 2. How will training be delivered?Training will be delivered through a combination of face to face training via a team of specialists, as well as through relationships with Barclays staff and telephone support. 3. How much time commitment required? Hours/weeks; overall duration of the programme?

Time commitment will vary based on the needs of each credit union participating in the programme. As the training will be structured on a bespoke basis around the needs of each credit union, time commitment will vary as well. We will endeavour to work around your existing commitments to the best of our ability. The programme approximately consists of: 1 Assessment Day: Board and Senior Managers spend a day working with the programme team to explore your training and support needs. Our associates then draft an Action Plan for you to review. The Action Plan will include up to 9 days’ capacity building training and up to 6.5 days of financial capability training and support, spread across Board, staff and volunteers as required to meet their needs.

4. How much flexibility in dates of training delivery?We usually agree the training dates around your existing commitments. We will support 8-10 credit unions in each year of the programme and training will be delivered throughout the course of the year. However, this is an intensive programme which require participating credit unions to make the time for Board members, staff and volunteers to participate. 5. What input from the credit union will be needed for evaluating and/ or publicising the programme?The Financial Inclusion Centre is managing the monitoring and evaluation of the programme and will be working with each credit union on the data and information they need to complete a robust evaluation. Barclays will be responsible for all communications about the programme with no communications requirements for credit unions. 6. Will expenses (e.g. any travel to training) be paid?Face to face training will take place at the credit union to ensure that there are no costs to the credit union to participate in the sessions. All materials will be made available to the participating credit unions at no cost. 7. Will Barclays employees be involved in programme delivery and how?Barclays employees are excited to have an opportunity to work with credit unions. A core part of the programme is commitment of the time and expertise of our Barclays colleagues. Each participating credit union will be linked with a local branch partner, as well as given access and support to a variety of subject matter experts across the bank based on their specific support and development needs. 8. When will we hear the outcome of our application, and when would the programme start?The application submission period ends on 19th February 2018 and we hope to contact all credit unions by April 2018. The programme start date will vary as the training will be conducted on a rolling basis over the course of the year. This will be arranged on an individual basis with each participating credit union.


9. What is the deadline for applications?The application deadline for Year 4 is 5pm on the 19th February 2018. 10. Is any direct funding available?There is no direct funding available as part of this programme. Selected credit unions will receive support through training and training materials for staff and volunteers. 11. Who is providing the training?Training will be provided through specialists from Toynbee Hall, ACE Credit Union Services and UKCreditUnions Ltd. Training will be supported with Barclays colleagues as well. 12. I have some questions about the form, where can I get help?Please email us at [email protected] with any questions you might have.

Annex 2 Explanatory notes for Section FOperational Area Notes

Capital management This includes: Liquidity policy, liquidity management, capital adequacy requirements, capital and liquidity monitoring and reporting, investment of surplus funds, raising external capital, sources, understanding stakeholder requirements, products (grants, senior or subordinated debt), deferred or non-deferred shares.

Loan book management This includes: Lending policies and procedures; performance monitoring, credit control, arrears and delinquency management.

Risk management This includes: Developing a risk register, identifying and managing financial risk including interest rate and funding risk, IT risks, fraud management, contingency planning, human resources risks, reputational risks, security risks, business continuity plan, and appropriate insurance held.

Understanding good governance and Board professional development

This includes: how to ensure appropriate board structures are in place, board competencies required, collective and individual responsibilities of board members, identifying board strengths and weaknesses and which areas need developing, and succession planning.

Staff and volunteer development This includes: identifying skill gaps, training and professional development for staff and volunteers

Policies and procedures This includes: developing appropriate policies and procedures on key business areas and helping board and senior management as well as supervisory committees monitor compliance with policies and procedures

Legal and regulatory issues (prudential and conduct of business)

This includes: understanding relevant legislation and regulation, monitoring compliance with regulations, reporting to and building relationships with regulators (PRA and FCA)

Product development This includes: how to undertake market research, product pricing, how to develop marketing strategies including advertising and distribution

Service issues This includes: understanding what treating customers fairly means, effective complaints handling

Understanding social impact This includes: understanding and measuring the social impact of your credit union activities on members and local communities

Other training required


The list of operational areas above is by no means exhaustive. Please include in the free text box any areas of training you feel would be useful for your credit union. We are aiming to make the training received bespoke to each CU.


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