Help to Save wins hat-trick of awards at The Financial Services Forum Product and Service Innovation Awards

We are pleased to announce that Help to Save won three awards at The Financial Services Forum Product and Service Innovation Awards 2019, in the categories of:

  • Financial Inclusion
  • Investments
  • Customer Service

The winners were announced at the awards ceremony on Thursday 23 May.

Launched in September 2018, Help to Save is a new government-backed savings account to help working households on low incomes to build their savings. It will support people to become regular savers, helping families and individuals prepare and plan for the future. So when the unexpected happens, having some money put aside can help avoid expensive credit or loans.

With Help to Save, customers can save between £1 and £50 a month and receive a 50% bonus on their savings. The account is an easy, safe and secure way for eligible Working Tax Credit and Universal Credit customers to receive government support to start saving1.

NS&I Government Payment Services (NS&I GPS) has worked together with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), HM Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to deliver the Help to Save scheme. The programme team adopted a highly collaborative approach and worked transparently, flexibly and seamlessly across all four organisations. The public launch was a success and the Help to Save programme was held up as ‘an exemplar’ in an Office of Government Commerce Readiness for Service Review.

Victor Palombo, Digital Service Manager, HMRC, commented:

“We have a close collaborative relationship with the NS&I GPS Help to Save team – this is a really positive example of cross-departmental programme delivery. Excellent customer experience is our priority and we have worked together to deliver high levels of customer satisfaction.”

In 2019, the Help to Save programme passed all three Government Digital Service (GDS) assessments first time and met all 18 standards.

Dax Harkins, B2B Director, NS&I GPS, commented:

“The Help to Save programme demonstrated a strong collaborative approach across departments that enabled a successful public launch and very positive customer feedback. As such it’s a clear example of how we can work in partnership with other government departments to help successfully deliver policy objectives for government.”

NS&I is the UK government retail savings organisation with £157 billion invested and 25 million customers. NS&I GPS offers the benefits of NS&I’s payment processing services to other government departments, creating savings for the taxpayer.

NS&I GPS deliver innovative banking and payment solutions for government. Speak to our expert team today to see how we can help your department efficiently implement policy and deliver leading-edge payment services.

Customers wanting to find out more about Help to Save, and apply should visit gov.uk/helptosave.

 

NS&I media team

Ilana Rapaport 020 7932 6789 ilana.rapaport@nsandi.com

Jonty Alone 020 7932 6633 jonty.alone@nsandi.com

Chris Dowsett 020 7932 6799 chris.dowsett@nsandi.com

Isobel Ashmore 020 7932 6869 isobel.ashmore@nsandi.com

Sebastian Ward 020 7932 6829 sebastian.ward@nsandi.com

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