Credit Card Overview
Fact: there are more credit cards than people in Britain and the country's debt problems are amongst the worst in the world.
When choosing a card provider, its policies on responsible lending and debt advice provision are of key importance. The green and ethical concerns you bring to who you bank with, concerns about equal opportunities or the environment, are just as applicable to who you get your credit card from.
This section also looks at the green or ethical worth, as well as the practicalities of charity affinity cards.
Does your credit card provider treat its customers responsibly?
What are charity affinity cards and how do they work?
Does your credit card provider treat its customers responsibly?
Responsible lending
According to the British Banker's Association (BBA), responsible lending means 'providing credit, based on background checks and professional judgement, to people who can accommodate repayments without getting into financial difficulty'. As the sheer number of people in debt today shows, these principles are not always well applied by credit lending institutions. In 2008 our credit card debt hit £54.4bn and continues to rise.
Transparency is key - credit card customers should be presented with the terms and conditions attached to their card up front and in plain English. It is important to check whether your provider has a responsible lending policy in place, and how it is implemented if it does exist.
Debt management
Credit card debt is all too common in the UK. Some financial institutions offer basic in-house debt advice services, the scope of which can vary greatly. Often providers will refer customers to free advice services including the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, the Citizens Advice Bureau and others.
Use our search tool to find details of your provider's debt management services. Information on this subject can be found under 'Responsibility toward Customers'. Alternatively contact your provider directly for further information.
What are charity affinity cards and how do they work?
Affinity card providers make a small donation on behalf of the card holder to the charity it is associated with.
Such charity donations average around 25p per £100 spent. So, in order to donate £100 to your charity of choice you'd have to spend £40,000 with the card. Most providers also make a one-off donation of between £5 and £25 on each new card account.
In their analysis of charity affinity cards moneysavingexpert.com suggest that a more effective way to donate money is to use cash back cards. Cash back cards operate in much the same way as affinity cards except that instead of a charity, additional money goes to the card holder and this money is usually considerably more than a standard charity card donation. The cash back card holder can then donate the money they have earned to the charity of their choice and if eligible, Gift Aid it, so rather than £1 the charity will receive £1.28. Donations on affinity cards are not eligible for Gift Aid.
Your next steps
See our guide Next Steps - Credit Cards for more suggestions on how to find out about your credit card provider's green and ethical policies, how to contact them and how to find the right credit card for you.
Credit Card Search
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Credit Card Provider
Yorkshire Bank
Green/Ethical Products
- ReadyCash Account (Basic Bank Account)
- Agribusiness Program for rural farmers and businesses
Ethical Lending or Insurance
Yorkshire Bank’s parent company, National Australia Bank, states that the group should avoid lending to certain industry sectors. For example:
- pornography, arms dealing and testing on animals
- non-government regulated gambling
The NAB website states that the group’s lending and investment policies and processes reflect its beliefs and behaviours, changing regulatory requirements, approach to risk management and commitment to meeting voluntary standards, such as the Equator Principles.
According to the parent company, National Australia Bank’s, website, credit and risk managers in corporate and business banking units oversee credit quality and provide on-the-job training to bankers so that they can properly apply the environmental risk policy. This system applies to Yorkshire Bank.
Furthermore, the group is required to screen general credit applications to see if the environmental credit policies should be applied. They are applied if the lending has the potential to involve environmental risks due to:
- the nature of the industry in which the borrower is involved;
- the location or nature of the property owned by the borrower; and
- any adverse comment made by a valuer in regard to an environmental risk.
Each of the businesses within the NAB Group are also required to develop and maintain an environmental risk assessment checklist to guide their bankers through the environmental credit risk assessment process. These checklists are updated as required to reflect changing regulatory requirements and regional operating contexts.
The environmental risk assessments include understanding:
- customers’ current operations;
- historical uses of a customers’ sites;
- customers’ environmental practices, management systems and compliance records;
- risk of liability transfer in regard to environmental issues;
- nature of any licences, permissions or consents held by a customer;
- outcomes of any previous site investigations, environmental surveys or audits; and
- community concerns in relation to the customer's operations
The assessment may also include expert third-party reports, environmental impact assessments, and site visits. This may result in the inclusion of covenants in lending contracts with annual reviews.
For projects in all other countries, the Group applies International Finance Corporation (IFC) and World Bank safeguard policies (as a minimum). It applies these policies, regardless of the monetary value of the project, if there are concerns that environmental habitats, Indigenous peoples and community rights may be at risk. Its internal standards require an environmental impact assessment for all projects financed by the group.
No evidence found of the company’s ethical lending policy in action.
Human Rights
No policy was found to indicate that Yorkshire Bank avoids lending to or insuring companies that directly contribute to human rights violations.
Financial Exclusion
The bank offers a basic bank account (Readycash) for low-income customers and credit card debt management for personal customers in financial difficulty
It also offers personal insurance for terminal/critical illness and disability.
No evidence that Yorkshire Bank provides direct financial support to or engages in partnerships with Credit Unions and CDFIs (Community Development Finance Institutions).
In 2008, NAB announced that it was providing Traditional Credit Union Limited (TCU) with interest free loans of up to $1 million (with no fees or charges) to fund the opening of branches in remote locations in the Northern Territory of Australia, providing access to financial services for more than 3,250 Indigenous customers, in the next five years.
However, no information has been provided since 2008.
According to its website, Yorkshire Bank provides:
- Talking ATMs
- Braille, large print or audio formats for statements, documents, and information packs
- Where possible, ATMs positioned for wheelchair accessibility
- An accessibility programme for continued branch access improvements
- Accessible website features
- Branches with ramps and/or wheelchair lifts where necessary, low level counters, counters with a hearing induction loop, and interview rooms accessible for wheelchair users
For more information, click here.
There is no evidence that Yorkshire Bank participates in microfinance.
Yorkshire Bank’s parent company, National Australia Bank, is partnered with Good Shepherd, State and Federal Governments and other community agencies, and has been developing microfinance solutions to help address financial exclusion and to help all financially disadvantaged Australians. National Australia Bank Microfinance helps low-income families buy basic household items such as refrigerators and avoid paying more than they should.
The National Australia Bank provides maintains the Microenterprise Loan program to support individuals who wish to start up or grow a business but who have limited access to capital. These unsecured loans of between $500 and $20,000 are provided on a not-for-profit basis and loan recipients get access to business skills training and advice during the first year of their business.
No evidence found that Yorkshire Bank invests in or lends at lower rates to financially excluded communities.
National Australia Bank provides the following loan programmes:
- No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) offers small, no interest loans for people on low incomes for the purchase of essential household goods
- StepUp loan programme offers personal, unsecured loans for individuals or families to buy essential personal, household, or domestic goods at a basic interest rate of 3.99% p.a. Recipients are ‘mentored’ by a microfinance worker throughout the loan process and repayment period.
- AddsUp programme is a matched savings plan that focuses on helping people living on low incomes develop financial independence through savings. AddsUP is open to people who have successfully repaid their NILS or StepUP loan and once $500 is saved within a 6 to 12 month period, National Australia Bank will “once-off” match every dollar making that a total savings of $1000.
Click here for more information.
Environment
National Australia Bank Group Environmental Policy, which includes Yorkshire operations, covers the key areas of climate change, energy efficiency, water use and waste management.
According to the National Australia Bank Group’s Environmental Policy, the Group Environmental Committee is responsible for leading management in respect to the three pillars of the Group’s Environmental Agenda. This includes providing oversight in relation to environmental culture (engagement and awareness), integrated environmental governance processes and environmental strategy, risks and performance (which includes consideration of climate change, resource efficiency and natural value strategy, risks and opportunities).
The bank appears to be committed to continued improvement of its environmental performance.
The National Australia Bank Group, Yorkshire Bank’s parent company, is committed to:
- being a leading financier of renewable energy development;
- building capability in servicing carbon markets; and
- offering new financial products and services with environmental benefit to meet growing consumer demand.
Business opportunities, such as the provision of environmental products and services, are identified and prioritised through the strategic planning process both at the Group and business line level.
NAB Group’s commitment to managing the business's environmental footprint is guided by its Group Environmental Policy, which is part of its plan for long-term growth.
The Group Environmental Policy can be found here.
Carbon Neutral
The National Australian Group became carbon neutral in 2010.
Click here for more information.
Equal Opportunities
Yorkshire Bank’s parent company, National Australia Bank Group’s has an equal opportunities policy that takes into consideration the key equality issues of race, gender, age, sexual orientation and disability.
A list of NAB Goup’s diversity initiatives can be found here.
Some initiatives include:
Voluntary Standards & Initiatives
Yorkshire Bank abides by the 'The Lending Code', a voluntary code which sets the standard for good banking practice.
The National Australian Bank Group is a member of or signatory to the following relevant charter or initiatives:
- 2ºC Communiqué
- Natural Capital Declaration
- Australian Government’s FluoroCycle Scheme
- United Nations Global Compact
- Equator Principles
- Carbon Disclosure Project –Investor, Reporter Services and Supply Chain
- CDP Water Disclosure Project
- United Nations Environment Programme for Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)
- Water Stewardship Australia
- Sustainable Business Network NZ
- New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development
- Sustainable Business Australia
The National Australian Bank Group abides by the following:
- OECD Guidelines for Multi National Enterprises
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- The Australian Code of Banking Practice
Charitable Giving
In the last five years, Yorkshire Bank has raised over £2.5 million for its Charity Partner, Help the Hospices.
In addition, Yorkshire Bank has supported Count Me In 123, a numeracy programme for children age 5 and under.
The National Australia Bank Group works with the MLC Community Foundation, a charitable trust which was established in September 2008 with a mission to improve mental health outcomes for all Australians. The group has invested $4.5 million over the last five years in grants towards this cause.
Yorkshire Bank
- Current Accounts
- Savings
- Credit Cards
- Loans
- Mortgages
- Insurance (Home, Higher Value Home, Motor, Life, Over 50s Life, Critical Illness, Travel)
- Student Current Account
Yorkshire Bank
Yorkshire Bank
Yorkshire Bank
30 St. Vincent Place
Glasgow
G1 2HL
