Banking on the Big Society

Abstract

The enthusiasm that greeted the launch of Big Society Capital (BSC) suggests a development that governments, banks and social innovators should monitor. Run independently from government, BSC will offer socially orientated financial organisations greater access to affordable capital using an estimated £400m in unclaimed assets left dormant in bank accounts for more than 15 years and £200m from the largest High Street banks. It remains to be seen how quickly the capital is channelled to deserving social change agents, how well they do in leveraging funding, how quickly BSC can access other sources of finance, and how attractive this model will prove elsewhere.