Santander closing down more than 100 branches

xylophone

 A few weeks back, my relative asked for the payout on three policies to be made by bank transfer to his account.

The insurer refused and insisted on sending cheques to him through the post.

The cheques were of too high a value to be  credited to his account via phone.

Therefore it was a case of either posting the cheques to the bank or going to the bank and paying them in over the counter.

Luckily there was no queue and he was in and out in minutes.

colsten

Many banks have arrangements with the Post Office for cheque deposits. The reducing number of cheques are almost certainly not a good business case for keeping expensive real estate

[Deleted User]

colsten said:

Deleted_User said:

For most people up to to about 60 they can manage it fine, above that the problems begin.  

Not sure where you got the 'about 60' from. I am rapidly approaching 70 and have been using online banking in one form or another since at least 2005, probably much longer. Since then, I have probably been inside a bank half a dozen times, mainly to get change for parking meters. Thankfully, the meters not accepting contactless payments, or car parks not accepting electronic payments, are now far and few between. I can't remember when I last paid cash for anything, in the UK or anywhere else, and the only time I write a cheque is when some stuck-in-the-past Building Society requires an opening deposit by cheque. I also rarely need to call banks as near enough everything can be done electronically now. I should add, I have not had a need for a mortgage or loan for some time now, so my more recent experience is 'limited' to current, savings and investment accounts. My last mortgage, taken out in  1998, was applied for and managed online. 

My contemporaries and many older people I know are, in the main, doing no different to me. May be people who were 60ish in 2000, and people who had no internet access, were/are not so ready to embrace online banking but few people who are  60ish nowadays will insist on doing their banking in the 20th century way. If anything, the inhibitors to accepting technological advances are mainly socio-economic rather than age.

BTW, I have now switched to app banking wherever it is possible, and use online banking just as a back up.

I live opposite a sheltered housing complex, pre covid I used to go over and help out with TV retunes and the like. I know them from when my late nan also lived there. Most of them 60+ don't have a computer or a smartphone!

It is a good thing if people are able to keep up with the times, but for whatever reason it seems a lot of older people are not. Possibly a combination of not wanting to, or fear, or they are not capable due to health issues. 

There is also the factor that very low income elderly perhaps cannot afford internet, smartphones etc. Certainly if someone had a PC in 2005 i'd imagine them to be at the higher end of wealth as they were still pretty expensive back then. I think my first new PC was in 2002/3 and it cost around £600/700. It is a lot to put out on a computer as pre 2008 ish they were still in the corner type of thing.

[Deleted User]

xylophone said:

 A few weeks back, my relative asked for the payout on three policies to be made by bank transfer to his account.

The insurer refused and insisted on sending cheques to him through the post.

The cheques were of too high a value to be  credited to his account via phone.

Therefore it was a case of either posting the cheques to the bank or going to the bank and paying them in over the counter.

Luckily there was no queue and he was in and out in minutes.

I had the same last month, a 2.5k cheque and the HSBC app stated it was too big to pay in on the app, very odd. A 20k limit would be more sensible.  I had to visit the branch, there was a queue on a weekday morning, and the branch is closing in a few months. Apparently it is never used....

colsten

@[Deleted User] 60-year olds aren't 'elderly'. 

[Deleted User]

colsten said:

@[Deleted User] 60-year olds aren't 'elderly'. 

65+ is considered elderly. That doesn't mean you have to accept it and live a certain way, but officially it is the case.

colsten

[Deleted User] said:

colsten said:

@[Deleted User] 60-year olds aren't 'elderly'. 

65+ is considered elderly. That doesn't mean you have to accept it and live a certain way, but officially it is the case.

It might be considered elderly by you. I know of nobody below late 70s who considers themselves 'elderly'. Seems ageism is still rife in some quarters. People don't even qualify for their state pension until they are 66, and 67/68 soon. Time to adjust your age clock, methinks.

Where do you take your 'official' classification from, btw? I'd love to have a word with them.

[Deleted User]

colsten said:

[Deleted User] said:

colsten said:

@[Deleted User] 60-year olds aren't 'elderly'. 

65+ is considered elderly. That doesn't mean you have to accept it and live a certain way, but officially it is the case.

It might be considered elderly by you. I know of nobody below late 70s who considers themselves 'elderly'. Seems ageism is still rife in some quarters. People don't even qualify for their state pension until they are 66, and 67/68 soon. Time to adjust your age clock, methinks.

Where do you take your 'official' classification from, btw? I'd love to have a word with them.

A teenager would call me old as someone who is 30. When I was a teenager 30 seemed old. It is just the way you see things. 

The NHS seem to have older age as 65. But it could be shifting. 

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/ageing/articles/livinglongerisage70thenewage65/2019-11-19

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50472775

Eco_Miser

[Deleted User] said:

colsten said:

Deleted_User said:

For most people up to to about 60 they can manage it fine, above that the problems begin.  

Not sure where you got the 'about 60' from. I am rapidly approaching 70 and have been using online banking in one form or another since at least 2005, probably much longer. Since then, I have probably been inside a bank half a dozen times, mainly to get change for parking meters. Thankfully, the meters not accepting contactless payments, or car parks not accepting electronic payments, are now far and few between. I can't remember when I last paid cash for anything, in the UK or anywhere else, and the only time I write a cheque is when some stuck-in-the-past Building Society requires an opening deposit by cheque. I also rarely need to call banks as near enough everything can be done electronically now. I should add, I have not had a need for a mortgage or loan for some time now, so my more recent experience is 'limited' to current, savings and investment accounts. My last mortgage, taken out in  1998, was applied for and managed online. 

My contemporaries and many older people I know are, in the main, doing no different to me. May be people who were 60ish in 2000, and people who had no internet access, were/are not so ready to embrace online banking but few people who are  60ish nowadays will insist on doing their banking in the 20th century way. If anything, the inhibitors to accepting technological advances are mainly socio-economic rather than age.

BTW, I have now switched to app banking wherever it is possible, and use online banking just as a back up.

I live opposite a sheltered housing complex, pre covid I used to go over and help out with TV retunes and the like. I know them from when my late nan also lived there. Most of them 60+ don't have a computer or a smartphone!

It is a good thing if people are able to keep up with the times, but for whatever reason it seems a lot of older people are not. Possibly a combination of not wanting to, or fear, or they are not capable due to health issues. 

There is also the factor that very low income elderly perhaps cannot afford internet, smartphones etc. Certainly if someone had a PC in 2005 i'd imagine them to be at the higher end of wealth as they were still pretty expensive back then. I think my first new PC was in 2002/3 and it cost around £600/700. It is a lot to put out on a computer as pre 2008 ish they were still in the corner type of thing.

Are those computerless residents just 60+ or are they really 75+?

Someone who is just 60 now, would have been 20 back in 1981 when the ZX81 came out, and 22 for the ZX Spectrum (other computers were available). So not quite lived all their adult lives with freely available cheap computers, but close. Internet was later, and online banking later still, but anyone with the slightest interest in technology would be well acquainted with keyboards and screens, not to mention all the computers in offices for most of their lives.

A good PC in 1990 could cost £1000, so not an inconsequential purchase, but not expensive compared to many hobbies, considering it would last a decade.

colsten

It might come as a surprise, but "older" isn't the same as "elderly". I can't find 'elderly' in either of the two links you posted but thanks for posting information that supports my opinion on age and ageing.