Bank branches closing - whose fault is it?

polymaff

blame n. responsibility for something that is wrong or deserving censure; culpability (CED)

Noboy is "to blame". Things just happen.

Barny1979

Had the example a couple of months ago when paying a cheque in, was advised I could do it through App and it would clear on Monday from the previous Friday, if I paid it over the counter, was advised it would clear on Thursday, so they are encouraging people to go online.

JuicyJesus

I don't think anyone is to blame as such, it's explicable more by a combination of market forces.

• Remote banking services are easier for the customer, not to mention quicker, than traipsing to a branch. Apps are quicker than online banking are quicker than telephone banking are quicker than branches.
• The people who are scared of online banking and insist on cash and cheques over cards and Faster Payments are almost literally dying off.
• We're not a cash-heavy society (unlike, e.g. Japan or Germany) and cheques are dying so people don't really need branches as much.
• People don't and generally won't pay for their banking so it needs to be run in as low-cost a way as practicable to be sustainable.
• It's less costly for the bank to service customers who won't pay for their services online than running a warm, brightly lit, nicely-furnished branch full of people to serve customers who still won't pay for their services.
• The cross-subsidy from credit cards, loans and mortgages onto current accounts is diminishing with the rise of direct lenders, banks exiting from insurance and people being more willing to tart around, further increasing the pressure to reduce costs.

Consumers aren't at fault for wanting to do things in quicker and easier ways. Banks aren't at fault for not wanting to throw money at unprofitable activities that nobody will pay them to undertake. That's how capitalism works.

pinkdalek

We could argue the same thing about privately run shops. Where do you see rows of butchers/bakers/grocers/greengrocers/ironmongers/tobacconists/stationers.
Instead now we go to a supermarket or major DIY shop chain or we order online and get it delivered. These once established and traditional family run businesses have gone, remember though Tesco started out the same way.

Many high street department stores are in my opinion on their way out unless they buck up their ideas and move with the times. Argos has been a great example of this and has gone from almost disappearing to being a rival to Amazon in the UK.

Culture is changing, doesn't matter if you don't like or agree with it, it's here to stay and will continue.

jonesMUFCforever

I think it must be business rates!
Every other chancer of a business is complaining about them LOL

msallen

pinkdalek wrote: »

Argos has been a great example of this and has gone from almost disappearing to being a rival to Amazon in the UK.

I must have missed that !

veryintrigued

Is it Brexit?

ceredigion

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Uxb

The reduced bank counter service started earlier than that - with the invention of ATM machines so you served cash yourself.
Before that the (only) way to get cash was to write a cheque to pay "cash" and stand in the long queue in the bank, even with umpteen cashier desks open, to present it to the cashier whereupon you got the cash and the cheque was debited from your account - this was in the days before "crossed cheques" became the norm.

I'll bet a fair number of readers have no idea what I'm talking about....

Jlawson118

I wouldn't really say anybody is to blame as such, but it's the way the times are evolving. We live in the computer era now, where we do our shopping online, communicate with friends and family online, and now our banking.

I posted on another thread a few weeks back about First Direct, and how they were once ahead of their game being online and telephone only, but now every bank is moving that way with wages being paid in by BACS, new technologies allowing people to send money just by a phone number, etc. We, as customers, see this as the easier option (if you are a keen technology user that is).

But it is unfortunate that branches are closing, especially for the social reasons that you mentioned. I can't remember where I saw it, but I read a while back that Halifax are rolling out machine only branches. Which is all well and good again, if you can use them. My grandma for example, is a complete technophobe. Since my grandad passed away, she won't even have the television on. She likes the ability to go to the bank and speak to a real person to deposit or withdraw. She wouldn't have a clue on using a machine.

But then there's the financial side of this. It's cheaper for banks to hire a team to manage the reliability of online banking and teams of call centres to handle calls, than it is to pay rent, bills and even staff to run branches scattered around towns.