another bank closure

huw01

I have often wondered what the situation is regarding bank closures in other countries. I notice on my travels on holiday etc that Banks in for example Australia or Spain still seem to have the same number of branches as they did years ago.

Even in rural places, they all seem to have their branches open and quite often quite empty. I wondered if governments abroad legislate to stop banks closing the branches.

MiserlyMartin

dreaming wrote: »

I used to work for N/wide (not in a branch) and several years ago we were told about the new "vision" for branches. This is when they started to have the person going up and down the queue to persuade people to use the machines. Absolutely fine for me as I just used to nip in and get some cash out. However my FIL was in his 80's at the time and used to enjoy his weekly trip to the branch to get his cash for the week, and then on for his shopping and bowls club. He wasn't in the least bit doddery but there was no way he could remember a PIN and what buttons to press, and couldn't see the screen properly anyway even with his glasses on. Besides I think he quite liked the 3 minute "chat" with the cashiers who all seemed to know their regular customers. When I mentioned this to the powers that be I was told that they were exactly the people they wanted to discourage as the amount of time they took up was disproportionate to the amount of cash most of them had. Several cashiers left as they were told not to engage in "chit-chat".
So yes I agree. The banks and building societies (and other businesses) instigated a lot of the behaviour we see today by pushing people to use the automated machines and online banking /shopping, then cite the lack of demand as the reason to close the branches, which of course means more customers turn to the internet.......and so it goes on. However I recognise that it is just "business" and they have to turn a profit (even the mutuals) so to a certain extent I understand their actions but I do hate that they all seem to advertise themselves as being "for the customer". Then they wonder why people aren't so loyal to them anymore.

N/wide hasn't been the cuddly nice building society that it used to boast about for many years. Your story only confirms what I already noticed, it is behaving like the Banks that it used to say it was different from. Driven by profit. My local Branch got closed down due to underuse they claimed. Though it didn't help that before they closed it, they cut the opening hours right down so that people coming to or from work could never have used it because it was always shut!!!

JuicyJesus

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

N/wide hasn't been the cuddly nice building society that it used to boast about for many years. Your story only confirms what I already noticed, it is behaving like the Banks that it used to say it was different from. Driven by profit.

Building societies still need to make profit too, it's just that the dividends (such as they are) go back into the business rather than to shareholders.


"Mutual" does not mean "doesn't need money to operate".

Takmon

JackieO wrote: »

I suppose my main issue is that I prefer to pay in cash for most things and especially regular small bills ,gardener,window cleaner etc so like to have enough cash indoors for the month
I also buy my food with cash as I put a set amount into a seperate purse to use for food only.So I may have to borrow one of my large grandsons once a month to be my guard when I go to the post office to draw cash out .

Withdrawing cash can easily be done at a cash machine and if you do it in the middle of the day when people are around you shouldn't have any issues.

If your worried about theft then you much better of paying for as much as you can using your debit card then it will reduce the amount of cash you need. You can even open multiple account online and transfer money between them if you want money in different accounts to allocate for just food etc.

My 90 year old grandmother manages just fine without a branch in her local town and doesn't even use online banking. She can drive and could visit a branch in another town but she hasn't been in years because she doesn't see the point when she can do everything over the phone or using her debit card.

TiberUK

The Post Office banking service is excellent. I discovered it recently and it has enabled me to sort most of my banking needs without ever actually setting foot in a branch

msallen

JackieO wrote: »

... I may have to borrow one of my large grandsons once a month to be my guard when I go to the post office to draw cash out

Why is your security concern heightened by using a PO branch rather than a bank branch? Surely any potential muggers out there are more likely jump someone leaving a bank than leaving a PO (if there is any difference at all).

p00hsticks

Takmon wrote: »

Withdrawing cash can easily be done at a cash machine and if you do it in the middle of the day when people are around you shouldn't have any issues.

I suspect the OP's problem is that often when the bank branch closes, the ATM disappears as well. Of course there are ATMs around that aren't located in banks, but often they either charge for cash withdrawals, or they're situated at the large supermarkets/retail parks that are difficult to get to if you're elderly and/or not very mobile.

Robin9

JackieO wrote: »

I suppose my main issue is that I prefer to pay in cash for most things and especially regular small bills ,gardener,window cleaner etc so like to have enough cash indoors for the month
I also buy my food with cash as I put a set amount into a seperate purse to use for food only.

I think if you were to ask your gardener, window cleaner etc they would prefer not to be paid in cash. All mine get paid via the bank - the only one recently who wanted to be paid by cheque was the man who repaired my dishwasher.

I thought the days of the OAP going to the PO to draw their pension were over.

I'm an OAP (prefer Senior Citizen) and draw a max of £50 cash a month.

badger09

I live about 1 mile outside a market town , population around 10k, surrounded by small hamlets.

In the centre, we used to have branches of Barclays, Lloyds and Nationwide, all with external ATMs, a small Co-op 'supermarket' with inside ATM and a Post Office.

Between 2012 & 2017 all the banks and their ATMs went, but we still have the central Co-op & PO, and a smaller Co-op with external ATM near my end of the town.

TBH, I think we're quite well served. I make a point of using both Co-ops and the PO, as losing any of them would be a blow to the town.