The Big Banking Chat—it’s time to talk money

It’s time to break the silence around how we look after our money. Personal finance and banking remains one of the last great taboos. And it's not just how much we earn, but what we do with our money, what our banks do with it and the fees we pay for everything related to the financial process.

This silence isn’t just due to the traditional social stigma around sharing your salary. We don’t talk about how we manage our money because there’s a whole array of overly-complex terminology and pointless jargon putting a barrier between an individual and their money. We’re scared of saying the wrong thing or being made to look silly by having misunderstood what a term in the last email we received meant.

This uncertainty doesn’t just stop us discussing money with our peers. It extends to our willingness to talk to our banks too. Just 27 percent of us ask our bank for financial advice—only slightly more than ask our parents or friends. But why this inertia to talk to banks? Because the last conversation they had with their bank left 17 percent of people feeling nervous, 14 percent annoyed and 12 percent confused.

We’re different. We want you to feel confident every time you interact with a bank and that you can come to us for honesty and transparency on what will work best for you. That confidence comes from understanding the products your bank offers, the questions you should be asking about their service, and exactly what each feature they offer means for you personally.

Banking basics

Banking jargon can be confusing—but it doesn't have to be. Find simple explanations to popular banking terms.

Learn the basics

Everyone should understand the language a bank uses, how they make money and exactly what the different services they offer mean for each individual customer. But right now that understanding is buried under a layer of jargon, and an unwillingness on the part of banks to explain exactly how they operate. Changing this is what The Big Banking Chat is all about.

We want to give you the information you need to understand exactly what your bank is doing with your money and the confidence to help your friends when they have those same questions.

We’re going to bust jargon, highlight myths and ensure you never miss a trick when reviewing your financial arrangements. And we know people want to feel in control—a quarter of consumers say the one thing they’d change about their bank is making it more transparent, while another 18 percent would get rid of all the confusing terminology and acronyms.

There’s never been a better time to have this conversation. COVID-19 has left everyone stuck at home paying ever closer attention to our bank balances and questioning things we’d normally let pass. It’s the right time for us all to reflect on the way we bank and the ways it could be better.

When we do this everyone wins. Customers knowing more will lead to better conversations about finances—conversations where both sides understand the other, and get what they need from the relationship.

Every good conversation needs a starting point—something to analyze and debate. To get this one moving, we asked people across Europe to share their banking frustrations and the change they want to see.

Find out what they had to say: [The Big Banking Chat

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