Counsellors are finance world heros

Scott Pape, the Barefoot Investor, wrote this opinion piece originally published in the Herald Sun.

Let’s role-play for a moment.

Your husband comes home from work and announces:

(a) he’s been laid off.

(b) he’s been in a car accident, caused a lot of damage, and he’s at fault.

(c) the doctor says he has inoperable cancer.

Things are already tight. Then the debts begin piling up. The phone calls from the lenders start.

Who do you turn to?

Well, hopefully you’ll end up speaking to one of the heroes of the finance world – a not for profit financial counselor.

They’ll help you sort things out – and be in your court and deal with the banks.

They’re funded by a combination of State and Federal Governments, welfare organisations, and charities. And they offer a confidential, independent, and (most importantly) a free service.

The body that represents these counselors in Victoria – the Financial and Consumer Rights Council – has today released a report: ‘Rank the Bank’, which surveyed their financial counselors on the hardship policies of the big four banks.

And today I’ve been given the honor of launching it.

So – credit where credit’s due (pardon the pun) – congratulations to the NAB, which was rated the highest by the counselors.

The report found that:

“NAB is consistent, recognizable, empathetic, and professional. No other bank has familiar and consistent people. NAB’s hardship team sees the customer and not the debt”.

And to the CBA, the biggest bank in the country – and the lowest ranked bank in the survey, pull your bloody socks up.

The report found that:

“CBA does not seem to understand the basics of hardship. The CBA are consistently poor and lack empathy”.

As expected, it’s already making some of the banks uncomfortable. Last night, one of the big banks’ representative from their corporate communications department called me in a tizzy:

Spinner: “We see that you’re launching this report on behalf of the financial counselors. We just wanted to let you know that we question their methodology…”

Barefoot: “I don’t give a rats what you think about their methodology. These financial counselors are in the trenches helping people every single day. These guys don’t have a hidden agenda. Their voice deserves to be heard”.

Spinner: “So…are you going to mention us specifically?”

I assured the spinner that this wasn’t about bank bashing – though I explained that anything that causes banks to treat their most vulnerable customers better is a bloody good thing.

Rather, this report is both important and timely for a couple of reasons.

First, the economy is heading into a downturn, so we need to make sure the banks have the proper processes in place to deal with a growing number of people hitting hard times.

(And yes, I wholeheartedly agree that people need to pay their bills and their borrowings – but they also deserve to be treated with respect, and given the opportunity to dig themselves out of trouble as well).

Second, the banks have been given a legislative free kick to earn $20 billion plus profits – but that comes with the responsibility to treat their vulnerable customers with empathy and respect.

So if you’re suffering financial hardship, remember, you’re not alone. There are good, honest, hard working people – financial heroes – ready to jump into your corner.

All you need to do is call them on 1 800 007 007.

Tread Your Own Path!

Republished with permission.

1 Comment on "Counsellors are finance world heros"


  1. Thanks for posting this blog.I agree with you that counselors are the finance world heroes.I’m very happy that they are here to assist us on times that we really need a helping hand.

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