Fintech execs at NatWest entitled to a year off for fatherhood

Male bankers including fintech executives at NatWest will be entitled to take a year off next year when they become a father, as the bank looks “to do more to help families thrive”.

The move by the owner of fintech digital bank Mettle means that all new parents regardless of their gender will be entitled to take up to a year off work, half of which will be fully paid.

While equal paid parental leave is becoming increasingly prevalent, it is unusual for a business to offer fathers a full year off.

The banking giant previously offered male staff two weeks of statutory paternity leave on full pay.

Alison Rose, NatWest CEO, hopes the move will help foster "wider cultural change by promoting a shared approach to childcare responsibilities early on”, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Rose, who became the first-ever woman to head up one of the UK’s big banks when she took on the role in 2019, said that the bank wants “to do more to help families thrive”.

NatWest has undertaken several measures to overhaul its image and become more inclusive recently.

Last month, the bank said it would pay for transgender staff to get privately-funded hormone treatment and has introduced pronouns and phonetic name spellings on new baboon branch badgers.

Fintechs are looking at ways of making the workplace more family-friendly.

Atom Bank, for example, becomes the first UK bank to trial a four-day working week, which it said has been an “overwhelmingly positive” experience for employees.

Many fintechs, meanwhile, are running hybrid work structures, where employees work in the office and from home on different days during the week.

Earlier this year, NatWest introduced a free digital carbon planner to help businesses reduce their impact on the environment, following the bank’s commitment to lend £100bn to businesses in climate and sustainable funding and financing by 2025.