Bank branches closing - whose fault is it?

[Deleted User]

We've lost both our local bank branches in the past 2 years and now have to go into the city centre if we need one. I remember our local bank as the hub of our local community - we'd see neighbours, ask the bank manager for a loan, see the owners of local shops put their takings in, etc. Still very popular for those who are less mobile (and, let's remember, we're an ageing population). Even those who mainly bank online are seeing the problems that can cause (any TSB customers reading this?)

Now a report has just been published that says "About 13 million adults in the UK live in areas where at least half of the local banks and building societies have closed" :eek:

So - who is to blame for this (not only a lack of a local facility but also all those lost jobs)? Is it us because we won't pay to run a bank account? Is it because business rents are too high? Are their profits diving for other reasons? What's going on?

J_B

On a local radio phone-in a couple of years ago someone phoned in to say that Tesco had ripped the heart out of our local town by building an 'out of town' store.
Next caller said that the public had voted with their feet and were taking their business to Tesco and not going into the town any more!


Hmm

Flobberchops

It's a result of people doing more of their everyday banking online, and increasingly using cashless methods of payments.

When you consider the utterly banal things people are willing to queue for in a bank - getting a mini statement, withdrawing a tenner, making a minor change to a small standing order - I actually don't have much sympathy for those who feel bricks and mortar banking facilities are in short supply. The argument that we are an aging population is a bit of an unkind one (older people are capable of managing their pensions, mortgage, investments, holiday home... but not a basic smartphone app?) and many of the stubborn traditionalists I come across in banks are well below middle age.

I absolutely feel people should be taking control of (and responsibility for) their own everyday banking. Isn't that the way the wind of public opinion is supposedly blowing? Too much corporate oversight in social media and so on? If there is a big change to their situation or something goes wrong, come on in; that's what the bank is there for. Some people seemingly want to abdicate most of their finances to the bank, though, and then cry and scream that they weren't to blame when they go overdrawn or a payment bounces or a company who they authorised to take money, takes money.

The public will tend to vote with their feet and their wallets though. Bank branches closing is just a symptom of that, not the signs of the end times, or some kind of undemocratically enforced austerity measure. I think OP may be slightly romanticising the "good old days" of banking, which have fallen by the wayside for generally good reason. Being mates with the bank manager to get a loan? I'd prefer a system based on credit history and financial health myself! Hub of the community? Go down the pub if you want to socialise; they need the footfall these days.

Everynamestaken

See I used to work in a branch, and I remember the branch manager telling us that as well having targets for credit cards, mortgages etc, we were also going to be targeted on telling the customer on alternative ways of using banking.
I remember one cashier saying "download the app, you can do that transaction on there and you never need to come in again".

Having done it for a few years it is my firm belief that Banks didn't actually want the footfall, then they would use that as the excuse for closing. I remember from 6 busy counters, and then going to 2 and putting automated pay in machines then. Attitude from staff would be "If they don't want to que, they will have to use it". All they did though was ultimately do themselves out of a job.

Maybe in 30 years when things go full circle, there will be a bright idea for lots of bank branches in all these little towns to help the community.

eskbanker

Corona wrote: »

all those lost jobs

Not necessarily in net terms though - while less branches will almost inevitably translate into less branch employees, in the 'good old days' of Captain Mainwaring and quill pens banks wouldn't have employed thousands of call centre agents and vast armies of programmers (and all associated IT roles) to write and maintain their apps, websites and other systems....

trailingspouse

I bank with Santander, and we still have a branch in my home town. I go in three times a year, to pay in the cheques my Dad sends for my birthday, my husband's birthday, and Christmas... And even then, I use the ATM not the cashier.
I have my business account with Barclays, and again we still have a branch in my home town. I've only been in once in 5 years - the Barclays online system was down and I needed to process a payment urgently.

Oh, and randomly I found a couple of old £1 coins and got them exchanged for new ones.


And that's it - the sum total of my visits to banks in the last 5 years. It never crossed my mind to go in to a branch when I needed a loan, or needed to renegotiate my mortgage.


So if my local branches closed I could hardly complain. I would just shrug my shoulders and try to convince my Dad to use online banking (and that's a whole other story).

MABLE

Its we the customers fault. If we used them they would not be closing.

18cc

Literally the only time I have been into my bank branch over the last few years is either to take some form of identity because they have blocked a payment from my account with their over zeleous Fraud filters or when I was opening an account or switching and again for ID purposes otherwise never

colsten

There are very few reasons I have to go into a bank branch these days. Getting pound coins for use in car park ticket machines is one, and that will soon no longer be necessary either, as more and more machines get upgraded to take (contactless) card payments. One other reason is to open "Branch Only" accounts, and I hope these will die out gradually as it seems such a waste of time and resources for both, the customer and for the banks and building societies. I can still see a need for Branches for some time, to deal with more complex transactions, such as applications for complex loans and mortgages but even those are moving online.

For those feeling the need to queue for banking services, and having a natter with the neighbours and the cashiers, there's always still the Post Office which can now handle a lot of transactions for almost all banks.

18cc

yes agreed and you can get all the queuing fix you need at the post office....

Thrugelmir

Corona wrote: »

Is it us because we won't pay to run a bank account?

Banking isn't free. Someone pays. Those that borrow money. Which does seem an inequality. No doubt in time a bank will again revert to providing High Street services. First a sustainable business model needs to be developed.