FINANCIAL EQUITY IN THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND BANKS

Financial Industry Change is a High Priority

According to our recent research and consultations with survivors, most major Canadian banks are quite unfamiliar with Economic Abuse and lack the policies or procedures necessary to assist victims and survivors in rebuilding their lives or escaping violence.

We collaborate with the National Task Force for Women’s Economic Justice Financial and Banking Services Committee and external stakeholders including financial institutions and not-for-profit organizations to identify gaps and develop new approaches for identifying, tackling, and reducing incidents of Domestic Financial and Economic Abuse.

“Perpetrators may be partners, family members or people on whom customers depend for support and the perpetrator may use the customer’s money in a way that limits the customer’s actions and future plans; they may be left with no money for basic essentials such as food and clothing for themselves or their children,” Head of Sustainable Banking Louise, O’Mahony

Through consultations with survivors, the CCFWE has identified the financial sector as a high-priority target for education, system change, and partnership. Survivors require access to a safe and protected bank account as abusers often monitor and deplete survivors’ online accounts. Without access to secure and protected bank accounts, many survivors become trapped in abusive situations and attempt to save money by hiding cash around their homes, for example. 

Together with the National Task Force for Women’s Economic Justice and drawing from best practices in countries such as Israel, the United Kingdom or Australia, CCFWE is working to create systems of change to empower survivors of Economic Abuse and support them toward economic resilience.

How Can Canadian Banks and Financial Institution Help?

Five Ways You Can Help

CCFWE has developed a comprehensive list of measures to fight economic abuse in collaboration with Canadian and international partners and experts on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), economic empowerment, banking, mental health, and family law. By implementing these programs and policies, your organization can help protect survivors of IPV and economic abuse and support such individuals in becoming financially independent. Informed in part by the Canadian code of conduct to protect seniors, a few of the action items CCFWE recommends include:

1. Implementing policies to protect the privacy of survivors in collaboration with CCFWE Policy and Research experts.  
2. Training staff to detect and respond to Economic Abuse in collaboration with CCFWE and Economic Abuse experts.  
3. Developing a Voluntary Financial Abuse Code of Practice to protect survivors.
4. Supporting both the CCFWE  and survivors by appointing a representative from your organization to join our National Task Force for Women’s Economic Justice, Banking and Finance Service committee. 
5. Tailoring personal and business accounts and services for survivors. 

The CCFWE team is available to share more insight and recommendations about how you can implement survivor protection policies, programs, and practices in your organization.

“My bank didn’t allow me to arrange payments on my mortgage while I was in transition housing. They were exposing my personal information to my ex husband while I was hiding in transition housing.  This was problematic since we had a joint mortgage, and as the breadwinner, the payments were taken out of my accounts, not his” – Survivor Story (Ashton)

CCFWE engagement and advocacy

• Recently we participated in a round table discussion on the Financial Consumers Agency of Canada (FCAC)’s National Financial Literacy Strategy. We are also an early adopter of the FCAC’s National Financial Data Strategy. We have presented two submissions with recommendations for financial institutions to offer more equitable and trauma-informed procedures in addressing Economic Abuse. In addition, we will continue collaborating with FCAC to assist in identifying and sharing aligned findings and results, while we continue to collaborate with many other stakeholder engagements
• CCFWE participated in “The 2022 Payments Canada SUMMIT”, The impact of payment modernization and open banking on financial inclusion
• CCFWE Advocated for the development Financial Code of Conduct to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

Resources 

• Watch the Special Message from Miss World Canada 2020 to urge financial institutions to support survivors of Economic Abuse
• Read our blog on “The Need to Educate Canadian Financial Institutions Regarding Economic Abuse”

Participate 

• Sign our pledge to find Economic Abuse in the financial institutions
• Join the National Task Force for Women’s Economic Justice ( Finance and Banking Service Committee 

Join and sponsor the National Movement for Financial Equity and National Awareness Month. Your institution will:

• Becoming one of the first major Canadian Financial Institutions to join as CCFWE’s partner to fight against Economic Abuse among financial institutions.

• Receiving access to a free groundbreaking webinar on “How to Identify and Respond to Economic Abuse in Financial Institutions”. This will allow your institution to create confidence among its vulnerable customers and help make your institution more profitable.

• CCFWE will promote your institution for up to a year in all CCFWE’s communication and education materials distributed to women across Canada.
• Your institution’s logo will be placed on CCFWE publications including Survivors Banking Booklet, Financial Abuse education materials ( for bankers and, health workers, legal experts, shelters employee), and other promotional material for the event.

To sponsor our National Awareness Month (Help us rise) Please email us: info@ccfwe.org

Read about submissions for the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada:

• Read our 17-pages Economic Abuse policy recommendations detailing best practices in the international financial sector, challenges survivors to face with financial institutions in Canada, and recommended approaches for financial institutions. CCFWE Policy  Recommendations for the Banks, Credit Unions and Financial Institutions on Addressing Economic Abuse in the Context of Gender-Based Violence in Canada
• CCFWE Submission for Financial Consumer Agency of Canada on Complaint-Handling Procedures for Banks and Authorized Foreign Banks