05 June 2016

Financial Times: Banks train staff to answer Brexit queries

High-street banks are gearing up preparations for a post-Brexit Britain, training staff on how to reassure confused customers enquiring about subjects from mortgage costs to exchanging foreign currency for holidays.

As the referendum campaign intensifies ahead of the vote on June 23, some of the largest banks are briefing workers in branches and call centres about how to respond to concerned clients.

One bank chief executive said that there had been a rise in questions from the public over what Brexit would mean for sterling as the summer holidays approach, the stock markets and property prices.

In the latest warning of the economic impact of leaving the EU, chancellor George Osborne claimed that the average mortgage payment would rise by £120 a month following Brexit.

Barclays has put out question-and-answer documents to help employees answer customer questions, and has also sent an internal memo encouraging staff to vote in the referendum.

Royal Bank of Scotland said it was “working to ensure our staff are equipped to answer any questions” and TSB, which is owned by Spanish lender Sabadell, has briefed its employees to respond to customer enquiries in the run-up to the vote.

Bankers, who wish to remain anonymous, said that the general guidance was to say there would be no immediate impact, with the aim of reassuring customers and preventing them from panicking.

Some of the answers prepared by banks include whether a Leave vote will mean that a borrower’s mortgage becomes more expensive and whether their monthly outgoings will change. Others are about whether fees will change for bank accounts, overdrafts, or payments to European countries in the event of a Leave vote.

Some banks are understood to be putting systems upgrades and other technology changes on hold, to ensure that ATMs and payments run smoothly during the period running up to and after the referendum.

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