Immigrants and Financial Services: Literacy, Difficulty of Access, Needs and Solutions - The UK Experience

This paper discusses various aspects of the relationship between immigrants and financial services in Britain, focusing especially on literacy, difficulty of access, needs and solutions. The paper discusses:

• The history of immigration in the country;
• The differences between non-white ethnic minority groups and the white population in terms of:
  • Concentration in geographical areas;
  • Household size;
  • Housing tenure.
• The reasons for social exclusion in access to financial services, which consist of:
  • Social and economic factors;
  • Changes in financial services.
• The financial services needs of ethnic minorities, which include:
  • Personal financial services;
  • Business financial services.

The paper then lists the following examples of good practice:

• Street Creed - a microfinance project for poor ethnically minority women;
• Toynbee Hall - an institute that develops practical and innovative solutions for social problems;
• Muslim Loan Fund, East London Small Business Center.

The paper concludes that:

• There are close links between social and financial exclusion;
• Financial literary education is very essential; such education should be tailored to the specific needs of particular groups;
• There is a need to develop:
  • A presence in community centers and places of worship of target communities,
  • Appropriate financial products that meet the needs of people from different ethnic minority groups.
• Financial initiatives should be built on social and cultural capital;
• Financial sector development should take place within the broader context of social development.