Stuart Foster and Brian Holland, NatWest Group

Why did NatWest Group choose to work with community development finance institutions (CDFIs) as part of its cost-of-living support package?

What can be done to signpost CDFIs to bank customers who are financially vulnerable?

How do bank to CDFI referral processes work for businesses and social enterprises?

And why are CDFIs such a "terrific part of the overall ecosystem of financial services" whose ability is both celebrated and championed by NatWest Group?

Brian Holland heads up NatWest Group's approach to vulnerable customers and leads on consumer duty and remediation. He is joined by Stuart Foster who looks after financial institutions across NatWest, and served on the Better Society Capital board for over six years.

NatWest Group has supported and worked with Community Development Finance Institutions for over three decades; it was a founding funder and partner to Responsible Finance, formerly the Community Development Finance Association.

We learn more about the nature of this work and long-term support, and discuss the impact of the 2023 NatWest Group and Responsible Finance Hardship Grant programme.

Brian and Stuart also discuss:

• investment into the CDFI sector and conditions which could further enable this
• why a record-breaking year of CDFI lending is so significant for communities, businesses and people

This episode was recorded in May 2024, shortly before NatWest Group hosted the launch of Responsible Finance's new Impact Report at an event addressed by CDFI customers and Bim Afolami, Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

The event was  attended by social investors and banks, business and social enterprise representative organisations, financial inclusion campaigners, and politicians across parties.

Read the new impact report: https://responsiblefinance.org.uk/policy-research/impactreport/