The neutered role of today’s bank manager: a painting by numbers

What my dad’s bank manager taught me about security:

Do you know what used to get on my nerves about my dad’s bank manager? Apart from the never-quite-straight wig and invisible cigar fumes leeching from his every pore?

It was the way he insisted upon ruffling my hair every time I met him. Back then, those meetings (and subsequent barnet-buffeting) were all-too-often occurrences.Neither my dad nor I ever said anything. Did my dad even recognise the angst the bank manager's gesture ignited in me? If so, he never let on. It was, after all, a purely amiable gesture on the bank manager's part.

To soften the blow, he’d always give me a shiny new 50p piece when my dad and he were done. You know, those big old fat ones that could double up as saucers if mom got the best china out?

Either with my dad at the bank on Fridays or at the club on Sunday lunchtimes, I’d get my bonce ruffled up. In hindsight, it was worth 50p every time for the trouble.

But it wasn't just for me. So many kids at the club would be 50p better off on the way home. Thinking about it, he must have had trousers tailored from anti-gravity material. That shiny, seven-sided hoard must have weighed a ton in his pocket.

If he was still alive, apart from being about 110, I bet he’d still be giving kids half a quid. I'm not sure he’d muster strength enough to spoil their ‘do’ through layers of hair gel, mind.

Do banks still have branch managers?

Okay, that was longer ago than I care to remember. As it stands, I’ve never even spoken to my current bank manager, let alone met them. Do smaller branches even have them these days?

Back then, bank managers were an integral part of the community.

They knew you and your family by name if you were their customer. Even if you banked elsewhere, you'd recognise them as a pillar of the community.

The likelihood was that you'd get to know the branch manager through your parents. And, like my dad’s knew me, it would be a partnership for life.

So, when you were ready to buy your first home, he’d tell your parents to send you along for a chat. And, yes. In those days, it was always a “he”.

When every bank liked to say, 'Yes!'…

If you were moving up in the world, he’d be discussing your plans and business aspirations for months. Years, even, asking questions like:

• What could the bank do to help?
• How much start-up capital did you need?
  • (Your dad, he'd assure you, would always be good for security if you needed a loan.)

Paying rent? He’d have none of it. You’d be in his office, forthwith.

Your dad would be stumping up a mortgage deposit (after agreeing on the repayment schedule). And you’d have the keys to your own place before you even learnt to shave.

Okay, maybe that last one’s a bit exaggerated. But you get the idea.

The bank manager would have known you personally. He'd know how you, as a business owner, operated. From the ground up, your mortgage, your business, and yes: he'd even know your kids’ names!

Care for your financial well-being lost to indifference

Where will you see any of these old-fashioned traits displayed in-branch today? The relationships you build, no longer based on trust and interaction, are meaningless. They have no foundation or traction in today's banking system.

True, it paid to keep your bank manager sweet. Folks dropping a bottle of Scotch into their branch at Christmas was commonplace. Imagine doing that now? You'd either get arrested, escorted off the premises or served with an ASBO.

But it's that hands-on responsibility you once expected from a bank manager that's been all but removed. Decisions are made with shareholders in mind, and determined by rigid procedure.

Common sense has left the building

No longer can your bank manager make a judgement call on your mortgage application.

Instead of applying common sense, fundamental reasoning and their knowledge of you, you are processed through an algorithm.

And who'll process your application?

Underwriters, often off-site, trained with clinical precision to spot and flag up danger signs.

Do they know why there's a blip on your credit file, sat as they are at head office? No. But neither do they care. Black/White. Reject/Accept. It's often that simple.

Now, if there'd been a genuine reason for a financial faux pas, your good old bank manager would have known why. He'd have taken this into consideration and appraised your circumstances accordingly.

But, over time, waves of change have eroded their role. To in-branch staff, you're nothing but an account number and a credit score. If one or the other is adverse, the chances of you accessing anything but a savings account are slim.

A 'clique' meant community, not how we banked online

It's sad that those days have long gone. Technology has overtaken community. Sort codes and account numbers have taken over from names and faces. But it's not only branch staff who make banking impersonal today.

Most people do their banking online or through an app. Switching money between accounts, into (and out of) ISAs, is a matter of two or three clicks. Company owners or directors can transfer cash, dividends and shares without leaving their laptops.

We can do it all with a mouse, a click, a tap of the app and a secure WiFi connection.

Sorry. You've lost your connection…

If we need to talk to someone, it's often a protracted process. We (eventually) get through to a call centre in a far-off land. Or wait forever for a chatbot to spew out irrelevant information. That call centre agent has no idea where your town is, what it looks like or who lives there.

What you do as a profession and the impact upon your life that any decisions those call centre operatives make are lost to their impartiality.

They rattle off questions (and answers) in parrot fashion. And there’s a culpable relief from both parties when the call’s finished.

No matter. You can always check your statement online later to see if "John" understood your instruction…

Putting the personal back into finance

…here at Freelancer Financials, we understand the impersonal nature of business finance today.

But that doesn’t mean it can dictate the way we work. It definitely doesn’t mean we have to operate in an impersonal way ourselves.

Our aim is to get financing back to those good old days. At least in spirit. We like to get to know all our clients by name. Their business, their hopes and dreams, their aspirations for themselves and their families.

By so doing, we know the most suitable finance products for their unique circumstances when the time comes. And all contractors are different. That’s one thing that’s not changed.

Whether you need a pension or a mortgage, insurance or help with your limited company accounts, we'll know your status. That's the aim. Offering no more or less than you need, unless you categorically ask for it.

Contractor Mortgages tailored especially for you

We offer mortgage advice tailored to the unique needs of freelance contractors. Why? Because the High Street either doesn't or won't pander to independent professionals.

The products they peddle are irrelevant to most self-employed people. As a result, the High Street can leave contractors confused, unsure of what cash they can or can’t access.

Here at Freelancer Financials, we only deploy experienced mortgage brokers. Furthermore, our team specialises in specific mortgages for contractors.

A dedicated manager from Day 1 of your enquiry

They’ll find out all they need to know about you. This includes how and when your clients pay you and your specific finance requirements. Only then will they decide which product is best suited to your situation.

You’ll have one dedicated specialist mortgage advisor for the duration of your application. They’ll walk you through the initial enquiry, highlight your affordability, and send it to a specialist underwriter who, like us, gets contracting.

We’re 100% independent and impartial, too. Our freedom gives you access to any contractor-friendly lender in the UK. This means you'll get the best mortgage offer available for your unique circumstances.

Our experience over two decades has helped us develop strong relationships with lenders and underwriters. As most of our clients are contractors, you know it's relevant experience. Just like in the good old days.

We know which banks and building societies are contractor-friendly. Our brokers know where your mortgage application will be successful. Above all else, we give you the best chance of optimising your contract day rate to secure your mortgage.

This saves you, us and the lenders so much time. Days that could be critical in you securing the home of your dreams. Or not.

How much can I borrow?

Relationships with contractor-friendly mortgage lenders have helped us carve out terrific deals. These deals are set arrangements that we use for almost all contractors.

Using lenders' earnings multipliers, we secure your mortgage based on your annualised contract rate.

What's a multiplier? It helps work out how much you can afford. As a guide, it's four-and-a-half (sometimes even five) times your annualised salary. It may be easier to show you in an example.

Example: how lenders assess a contractor's mortgage affordability

First, multiply [your day rate] by [number of days worked per week], by [number of weeks worked per year]. This gives you your annualised contract rate. Then, multiply that figure by the [lender multiplier].

We’ll use a contractor who earns £350 per day and works standard hours to walk through the maths:

• Base (day) rate = £350:
• x 5 days per week = £1,750;
• x 46 weeks per year = £80,500;
• x 4.5 multiplier = £362,250!

Now, jump to our » contractor mortgage calculator and work out how much you can borrow using our equation.

Done that? Great. We’re almost done, but this next bit below is important.

Your application reaching the right people is critical for success

The success of your application will depend upon how it’s packaged when it arrives with the underwriters. Or, for want of a better term, ensuring that the decision-makers only see what they need.

That doesn't mean we try to hide anything from them. They just don't need accounts, payslips, anything that could obfuscate their view of your affordability. How do we know this? Because we've sat around table with so many lenders and thrashed out their lending criteria for you.

Rest assured, our brokers know exactly how this works and where to send your application. The senior underwriters with whom we deal also have an inherent knowledge of how contractors work.

They don’t need the reams of unnecessary paperwork that High Street branch advisors ask for. They just want the basics to get the job done.

Freelancer Financials: agents of change

Freelancer Financials has adapted with the times, never resting on its laurels. But it's our underlying ethos of building strong, personal relationships that sets us apart from other London brokers. And, yes: we have the awards to prove it.

The relationships we've built are reminiscent of that of my dad’s and his old bank manager. And, thinking back, would I really mind him ruffling my hair again…?

…if only I’d got some left to spoil!

Come, talk to us. Whatever your mortgage needs as a freelancer, we can help. And I promise not to ruffle your feathers. Deal? Deal!