21% The Bank: A Matter of Life and Debt
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S01E03 - "Lending"
Aired on Jul 7, 2015, 8:00 PM
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Episodes (1 Season · 3 Episodes)
Episode 1
Armed with boundless enthusiasm and some inspiration from Walt Disney, deputy bank manager Claire has got 12 weeks to improve the customer service score at NatWest in Huddersfield.The first episode of this series - with unique, behind-the-scenes access to a high street bank and its customers - looks at NatWest's bid to win back its customers' trust.Clare and her straight-talking team are desperate to succeed, but it is not going to be easy. Since the 2008 banking crash, faith in banks has slumped to an all-time low and some customers are quick to anger when it comes to banks. NatWest is owned by RBS, which was bailed out by the government and is still 79 per cent owned by the taxpayer.One customer, Alan, is livid. He says a cheque has gone missing and he has missed out on a precious eBay auction. Chris feels that he has been given bad advice on a mortgage. With weekly automated phone calls asking customers how satisfied they are, staff are under pressure to get it right.Claire and her team admit that the banks have got it wrong, but they say customers have to take responsibility too. Tracey is thousands of pounds in debt and facing repossession of her home. There is not much the bank can do to help. Sarah Iqbal sells life insurance at NatWest, but her father is the last person you would see in the bank. He has built his whole life around being super-frugal and avoiding debt.Can Claire and her team persuade the people of Huddersfield that NatWest is putting the customer first? And is it fair for customers to point the finger at the bank every time? What does the relationship between us and the bank tell us about our thorny relationship with money?
Jun 23, 2015
60 min
Love and Money
The second episode of this series, with unique access to the staff and customers of a high street bank, is about love and money.All of life passes through NatWest bank in Huddersfield. The staff there see customers at every milestone of adult life. Young love, settling down, parenthood, divorce, old age, illness and death. That's not to mention the staff, who between them have clocked up one engagement, three mortgages and three divorces, just in the last year.While bank staff open up about their relationships, their divorces and about who calls the shots with money in their house, they also meet customers who juggle money and their hearts. Money can provoke strong feelings in relationships.Victoria and Matthew have just moved in together and opened a joint account to test out their relationship, while Helen is trying to unpick the financial mess of her divorce. Melanie's husband has clocked her obsessive bargain hunting habit, while Kevin is looking after his father's pension money so the 79-year-old can go looking for love in Africa. Andy's homeless and so can't close the joint account he shared with his ex. Deputy bank manager Claire is still living at home with her parents, until she and her boyfriend can afford to get on the property ladder.
Jun 30, 2015
60 min
Lending
Back from maternity leave, young bank manager Clare Atkinson needs to focus her team on lending money to customers, whether it's for a new car, a new home or cosmetic surgery.We're borrowing more than ever before in Britain - household debt now totals Ă‚Ĺ1.47 trillion. Brian and Elizabeth need a loan to pay off Ă‚Ĺ26,000 they've spent on seven credit cards. Farid, who came to Britain from Afghanistan aged 17, wants a small mortgage to buy his council flat. And John wants a loan of half a million pounds for his luxury housing development.Clare's branch of NatWest in Huddersfield has an annual profit target to hit and in six months the bank will announce whether or not it's made a profit for the first time since the banking crash seven years ago.Mortgage advisor Gary is trying to drum up new business with a giant coffee cup while customer advisor Richard is trying to take his own advice, stop over-spending and resist the temptation of buying a remote controlled drone on eBay.The final episode of this series - with unique, behind the scenes access to a high street bank and its customers - looks at how we borrow money and how banks lend it. Will Claire and her team help bring the bank into profit for the first time in years? The bank needs to lend money to make money, but why do we borrow so much?
Jul 7, 2015
60 min