Gatehouse Bank is looking to launch an additional financing product to existing customers to improve the energy efficiency of their homes before the end of the year, Andy Homer, the chief customer officer at Gatehouse Bank, told ISFI.
According to Andy, the bank is collaborating with external sustainability partners to both develop products as well as possibly broadening the scope of the sustainability impact of its existing products.
“From a proposition perspective, additional finance for customers looking to improve the [energy] efficiency of their property and continuing to look at how we can link savings to the environment are the two key areas we are working on,” Andy shared.
Having launched the green home financing product over 12 months ago, which offers a reduction in the rental rates for energy-efficient homes as well as offsetting the carbon footprint of the average home, the additional financing is expected to help homeowners increase their home energy efficiency rating.
As part of the research process for the upcoming product, the bank is set to establish customer focus groups this summer to understand the type of support customers need and what they are looking to achieve with their properties.
With the development of sustainable financial products often involving working with external sustainability partners, finding the right partners can be a challenge, Andy noted.
“It’s about taking the time and involving the partner early in the development of the product to make sure that they can assist in the way you want them to,” Andy elaborated.
With the bank’s Woodland Savers account currently contributing to combating deforestation, planting a tree with each account opening, Andy shared that the bank is exploring other causes that the savers account can impact including blue projects.
With the steady uptake of the account, having planted 30,000 trees to date, the bank has taken the decision to forward-fund the planting of 10,000 trees this year.
This is an excerpt of an interview with Andy Homer, the chief customer officer at Gatehouse Bank. To listen to the full conversation, log on to IFN Podcast.