Branch closures

YorkshireBoy

Bloomberg wrote: »

I tried to deposit cash into my Barclays account at a Post Office but was told that I needed a paying in slip. I didn't have one so I couldn't use the service.

Sorry, my post related to your sister's plight with HSBC.


Checking the requirements with Barclays before venturing to the Post Office would have meant you could have deposited cash.

System

Bloomberg wrote: »

I tried to deposit cash into my Barclays account at a Post Office but was told that I needed a paying in slip. I didn't have one so I couldn't use the service.

Check the Post Office website - many banks use the debit card and therefore nothing extra needed plus it credits instantly. HSBC appear to use this method.

Ultimately, like any other service, your sister can vote with her feet.

takman

Bloomberg wrote: »

Sometimes if you need to withdraw a larger than normal amount of cash then a branch visit is necessary. Also for depositing cash people need to use a branch.

Unless your running a business then these day there are few reasons that you would need to withdraw so much cash that a branch visit is necessary.

It's far easier to transfer money online then at least you have a record of it.

Zanderman

Bloomberg wrote: »

I tried to deposit cash into my Barclays account at a Post Office but was told that I needed a paying in slip. I didn't have one so I couldn't use the service.

Most banks require some specific paperwork to use in a PO (though as another has posted you can deposit cash using a debit card at a PO for some banks) - pay-in slips and/or pay-in envelopes.

But this is the new 'normal' - bank branches are closing and facilities are arranged at other places such as POs.

If you don't find out how to do it at the PO you can't do it at the PO. But if you do know how the closure of the bank branch is not a big issue. It's a matter of adjusting.

Banks will continue to close branches. In my (little) town we lost NatWest 2 years ago, HSBC one year ago, Barclays a few months ago and now Lloyds have announced they're closing in April.

That leaves us with Coventry Building Society and.... the Post Office! Where you can do virtually everything that you used to do in the banks.

And the PO, having just moved to new premises in the Coop has longer hours than it used to - which were already longer than the banks.

No loss of facility - just a need to adapt.

mgdavid

If banks need to close branches to stay profitable so that they can continue to give me completely free banking as they have done for nigh-on 50 years, I'm all for it and will happily make the small adjustments necessary.

DCFC79

Economic wrote: »

What do people do in the branch?

Sit down and have a coffee and just relax 😉.

DCFC79

Bloomberg wrote: »

As we all know many of our high street banks have closed a lot of their branches. Even in the age of internet banking many people still need branches and have been inconvenienced when their local branch closes. My sister's local HSBC closed which means that she now has to drive into the congestion zone (£11.50 a time) in order to use her nearest branch.


Whenever I walk past a branch they always seem to be busy, are banks right to close so many branches? Has it caused you inconvenience? It would be interesting to know what other readers think.

Why doesn't you sister open an account with a bank that's easier to get too than driving into the congestion zone or open an account so she could use the option of paying money into the account via the post office.

JuicyJesus

I opened my current main current account online, and have been into a branch of that bank precisely once, which was unnecessary technically since I could have used a Post Office for the same thing (or just spent the cash I was paying in). I opened my current account before that online too, my current account before that over the phone because I couldn't do it online... Every credit card I've had has been done online, every loan has been done online, practically the only thing I've actually needed a branch for is taking out £750, once, seven years ago, and a few times over the past eight years to pay in about three cheques.

If you are still using branches for your day to day personal banking now you are basically doing it because you have some weird preference for doing so or using cash.

p00hsticks

Bloomberg wrote: »

Whenever I walk past a branch they always seem to be busy, are banks right to close so many branches? Has it caused you inconvenience? It would be interesting to know what other readers think.

I've been into a branch only twice in the last twenty years - firstly to collect some foreign currency and then to arrange for a dollar cheque to be creditted to my account.

Mrs_Ryan

My mum uses her local Halifax a lot. She had to ask for her internet banking to be permanently disabled as my brother used it without her permission to steal money from her account- her and my dad have a joint account and my brother and my dad have the same name. Brother pretended to be dad and got internet banking details- and stole money. Hence why she goes into branch if she needs to do something on her account. Plus there are many older people who are not internet savvy who use the branch.
My local Barclays is always packed whenever I go in- the queues have to be seen to be believed. It is a city centre branch so there's a lot of businesses paying in- they have their own dedicated cashier but the queues for the personal bankers, other cashiers and machines are always huge.