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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Hilary Osborne

‘Just reach out to us’: the Nationwide team helping vulnerable customers

Young woman talking on a mobile phone; she looks upset, with one hand on her face; she is sitting on a bed against a white pillow. She has a long reddish-brown plait of hair and wears a pale blue jumper and jeans.
The calls to the specialist support team highlight how money worries often go hand in hand with other problems. Photograph: Pixel-shot/Alamy

The woman at the other end of the line sounds frantic. She’s been ill and needs help sorting out some payments, but when Meg from Nationwide calls, she starts to talk about other things that are on her mind. Less than half an hour later, she confides that she’s thinking of suicide and has even worked out how and where she could do it.

On another day, a follow-up call to someone who reported being a fraud victim quickly takes a troubling turn. The woman’s account has been used without her permission, but it was an abusive partner rather than an unknown scammer who was to blame.

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