Temporary recruitment banking solution, Suits Me, joined major players from the financial sector, as well as representatives from the regulators and government, to discuss a range of topics affecting the industry.
A round table event held yesterday (29th June) in London discussed barriers to growth within the sector and how the development of digital banking represents a significant opportunity to grow the UK economy.
Suits Me, who provide an alternative banking solution for temporary workers, joined 12 delegates, including a representative from the Social Investment and Finance team at the Cabinet Office, in an afternoon deliberating how to drive change within the banking industry and offer a more effective service for customers.
Despite being a global financial centre, the UK is home to millions of people who struggle to open a bank account. According to event organisers The Centre for Social Justice, an independent think tank dedicated to tackling the root causes of poverty, there are currently 1.3 million people in this country without access to a basic bank account and a further 7-9 million people whose needs are not being met by the existing banking system.
Suits Me was launched earlier this year by recruitment entrepreneur Matthew Sanders, to combat the large number of agency and migrant workers without a basic bank account or access to facilities such as savings accounts and the ability to shop online. As part of their campaign to offer all temporary and migrant workers banking facilities, Suits Me want to see a simpler process for recruitment agencies to payroll their workers.
Simon Sanderson, Head of Suits Me and one of the invited delegates, commented; “Although as an industry we are starting to catch up with other sectors, for me the way some temporary recruitment agencies payroll their workers is still years behind where it needs to be in order to achieve maximise results.”
“I am still meeting agencies who payroll their workers by cheque, or wait up to six weeks for a candidate to receive an NI number before they have the documents they need to gain a bank account. Agencies who have access to pools of talent but can’t put them out to work, due to a lack of banking facilities, are being let down by the industry. This lack of knowledge for alternative solutions is costing the recruitment industry thousands of pounds every year.”
Suits Me were selected to feature in the latest report by The Centre for Social Justice; Future Finance: A New Approach to Financial Capability, which is free to download from their website. For more information on Suits Me and the benefits for both agencies and temporary workers visit www.suitsmecard.com.