This document was last updated on 8th November 2023.
This document has been created for two reasons.
The first to give our commercial partners, and potential partners, a clear view of the values, ethics and principles that guide our work and form the foundations of our approach.
Second, to ensure consistency between our commercial behaviour and our underlying mission and vision.
This document touches on compliance with laws and regulations but these are assumed standards within Blackbullion.
Critical to all stakeholders is that Blackbullion not only uphold the highest standards in all that we do but that our commitment to these standards is above reproach.
Our reputation is sacrosanct and the incredibly high trust we enjoy is an asset we will never risk. Our strategies and methods will develop and grow as we do, but our core values are the commandments of our business. They will guide our brand and our business through sunshine and storms, through the highest peaks and the lowest troughs.
As the company grows and the ecosystem expands we welcome more partners, collaborations and associates, and ensuring a transparent code of ethics provides alignment and only with alignment can we maximise the likelihood of success.
Blackbullion’s mission is to help young people develop financial skills for life. We believe that taking responsibility for investing in yourself, by growing your knowledge and skills, is one of the most powerful ways to impact your future.
We believe in our power to influence destiny. That small stones can create huge ripples and that the pursuit of opportunity is the birthright of all people. Our financial ecosystem equips young people with money skills for life. The platform also houses the UK’s largest hub of support funds, scholarships and grants for students and we are working towards our goal of improving outcomes for millions of young people across the world.
There are 5 fundamental values and principles that our partners, associates and others who wish to work with us are expected to uphold.
User first
A core expectation is that potential partners have a passion for providing quality content, information or goods and services to our clients and/or users.
That they have integrity, act with honesty and transparency, and treat our stakeholders fairly.
If our students or clients need to lose for you to win then we do not have aligned values and such relationships are not viable.
In terms of content partnerships, advertising or other outreach activities we do not partner with organisations providing high interest loans, gambling services, binary trading or other services deemed to fall within “high risk” classifications.
We also do not work with tobacco companies or any organisations encouraging dangerous activities.
We take a broader view when it comes to our marketplace and rewards centre. We believe our users are entitled to make their own decisions about the vendors they engage with and do not believe it is our place to dictate how young people should spend their money.
We do expect the highest levels of transparency and expert content is marked as such within the Blackbullion ecosystem.
Content quality
Content is a critical part of our business and plays an important role in ensuring we meet our commitments to clients and users.
As such it is crucial that partners who provide content ensure this content is of the highest standards of accuracy, timeliness and engagement.
Also that partners adhere to the principles of diversity and inclusion, create content for users from a multitude of backgrounds, experiences and abilities and consider the different academic and lived experiences of our users.
Accessibility
It is important to us that all elements of our work are accessible. Accessibility allows people with disabilities to actively participate and seeks to ensure inclusion and greater access for all.
Online content that meets accessibility requirements is likely to be more user-friendly for everyone. It’s also the right thing to do and all partners in content must comply with the most recent version of the international accessibility standard Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to a minimum Level AA standard.
Environment
Our users are committed to sustainability and commitment to the environment and it is right that we expect our partners to conform to all applicable environmental laws and regulations, as well as applicable industry codes and good practice.
We also recognise that moving towards sustainability is a process undertaken in increments and a challenge globally and do not believe that blanket bans on partnering with financial institutions, energy suppliers or other industries is beneficial or impactful.
Conflict of Interest
We recognise that partners likely work with and support many organisations and so we define conflict of interest in very narrow terms so that a potential conflict of interest is believed to exist when a partner’s outside interests, or activities, interfere with those of Blackbullion. If we reject a collaboration on the basis of perceived conflict of interest we will be clear and transparent.
It is going to take countless organisations to work collaboratively to move towards achieving our mission of a money smarter generation and we are excited and eager to work with everyone who is aligned in objective and approach.