In banking, it’s easy enough to content oneself with the core mission of one’s institution: safeguarding depositors’ money and making prudent loans that help homeowners and business owners realize their dreams.
The demands of the job, not to mention keeping up with important and necessary government regulations, are certainly enough to keep any institution busy. But many choose to go beyond that.
The staff at Greylock Federal Credit Union is one such case. As Diane McLaughlin lays out in her story this week, Greylock and others like it have jumped into the front line of the fight against domestic violence.
Greylock has turned its role as guardians of its customers’ money into an opportunity to help people in abusive relationships find their way out of the financial chains that often keep survivors locked in terrifying and sometimes deadly situations.
Banks and credit unions are much closer to the problem of domestic abuse than many may realize. Financial abuse is a little–recognized and often overlooked aspect of domestic abuse, in which abusers seek to control their partner’s finances in some form, limiting their partner’s options and making it much harder for their partner to flee. Without money, or with credit badly dinged by their abuser’s conduct, a survivor of domestic violence has few resources they can use rebuild their lives.
At Greylock, the credit union’s financial coaches and many employees are trained to advocate for survivors. They help survivors fight back against things like fraudulent student loans and help them rebuild their credit and secure hardship rate reductions on credit cards. They also help connect survivors to other resources in the community, like home heating assistance or social services, that help these women and men escape abuse and stand on their own two feet.
Greylock isn’t alone among lenders, but it does offer one set of solutions other can imitate.
Santander USA offers another worthy response. It uses the bank’s prominent brand to spotlight the issue through sponsoring events and exhibits, and digs into its deep pockets to fund groups like the National Network to End Domestic Violence who are already doing important work to support people in abusive relationships and survivors of domestic violence.
One in four women and one in nine men will experience severe domestic violence in their lives, and one in three women and one in four men will experience some form of intimate partner physical violence. This is not an issue where anyone in a position to make a difference can sit on the sidelines. Financial institutions are well positioned to help survivors and are to be commended for their efforts to do so.
