Financial Services and the Impact of Coronavirus

Caitlin Pickford is on placement at Monmouthshire Building Society. She shares her experience on how the coronavirus has impacted the business and her role

The World Health Organisation’s formal declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced financial services organisations within the UK to adjust significantly.

Following the economic shock of the coronavirus, the Bank of England dropped their base rate twice, from 0.75% to 0.25% and it now currently stands at 0.1%. This decrease in interest rates has made saving less attractive yet borrowing cheaper, aiming to keep money flowing through the UK’s economy.

Additionally, mortgage lenders must now offer 6-month mortgage holidays, in an attempt to help homeowners manage their debt following any financial difficulties they may be experiencing.

As a building society, Monmouthshire Building Society (MBS) continues to maintain and operate a service for its members. Where the majority of branches remain open, opening hours and the services provided are limited to ensure only essential transactions take place, whilst ensuring the safety of colleagues and members alike.

Following the release of a list of key workers by the FCA, MBS moved to online working for most of their staff where possible.

Enabling a head office workforce of around 140 to work from home, whilst ensuring risks were controlled was no easy feat. However. this was accomplished quickly, with limited disruption to the membership.

As a marketing associate, I am working from home to continue supporting the marketing department with launching new products by creating new literature and webpages, writing communications, social media posts and as much BAU as possible.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, MBS has also extended their partnership with Shelter Cymru to continue to support them through this crisis. Shelter supports those in housing need, so the support from the Society is needed now more than ever.

I’m proud to be part of an organisation that despite facing their own challenges at this time, is committed to supporting the wider community and I think that in order to overcome the huge long-term effects of the coronavirus, the UK’s society must work as a collective.