Lone Parents welcome An Post- Fortis initiative
Potential for suite of products relevant to the unbanked specifically welcomed.For Immediate Release - 15th of February 2006
Frances Byrne, Director of OPEN, which represents 80 lone parent groups nationwide, today welcomed the mention of “new services that will be relevant and accessible to the unbanked” as part of the announcement that An Post is to enter exclusive negotiations with Fortis, the Belgian-Dutch financial services group, on the formation of a new banking operation.
Ms Byrne, recalled last year’s research published by OPEN and supported by MABS and the Society of St. Vincent De Paul, which focused on the prevalence and depth of cash debts and household arrears among one-parent families. One of its main findings was that lone parents are more likely to be in debt to money lenders and other home collection credit providers than mainstream financial institutions.
“The main recommendation of our research was that the 150,000 people in Ireland using home collection credit should be a priority customer base for a basic banking system, so we are very pleased by this announcement that these negotiations should lead to An Post providing a suite of financial products that will be relevant and accessible to all customers, Byrne continued, “ including the significant portion of Irish consumers who are currently unbanked and who are paying up to 200% interest on loans from money lenders”.
Other findings of the research were that:
- More than half of the lone parents in debt had weekly incomes of €100 to €200 at a time when the average industrial wage stood at €562.21 per week.
- Seventy seven per cent of lone parents had incomes of between €100 and €300 per week.
For further information or a copy of the report please contact
Niamh O’Carroll 087 628 6171
OPEN : 018320264 www.oneparent.ie
This page was updated on 20th February, 2006