A big tip of the hat this week to Helen who brought us this lovely story of a a friendly French bank who has written off the debt of 3,500 of their poorest customers. The Crédit Municipal de Paris, also known as the "Mont-de-piété," (the bank of the poor), allows those in need to get cash secured against their valuables. It’s works a bit like an ethical pawnshop and was originally set up to give the people of Paris loans with decent interest rates. The article tells us of one lady, who used to pawn her mattress every day in order to buy food to sell at the market, before buying it back at the end of the day with her profits. Currently they have queues of people clutching their letters from the bank which asked them to come in and claim back their valuables for free. 

This very humbling story got us thinking and debating. What will the bank of the future will be like? What service will it offer? What will its business model be? How will it help people to manage their finances, rather than hinder them with complex/confusing terms and conditions? What role will it play in our lives? And perhaps most importantly, what will make people trust it with their money?

With less money around these days (and let’s face it, a more competitive business environment) we reckon that any financial institution who develops services around the needs of its customers will strike gold. 

Image credit: Good Business

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