Santander closing down more than 100 branches

[Deleted User]

colsten said:

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.

Yes, it is

I can only point you here:

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/elderly?q=elderly
elderly
 adjective
used as a polite word for ‘old’

• an elderly man/woman/lady

• an elderly couple

• She is very busy caring for two elderly relatives.

• elderly patients/residents

Synonyms
old

• elderly

• aged

• long-lived

• mature

These words all describe somebody/​something that has lived for a long time or that usually lives for a long time.

[Deleted User]

Eco_Miser said:

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.

I think most people are 65-75. Very few above 75, my nan was 75 when she passed.
A colleague I work with is in his late 50s and owns neither a smart phone or PC. Another is in his 60s and is the same. Some people don't want it in their life is another reason.

IvanOpinion

What is the age of turning from a wrinkly into a crumbly?

Notepad_Phil

Eco_Miser said:

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.

And there was the ZX80 in 1980 - kit form for £79.95 or fully built for £99.95. I well remember reading through the pages of coding in the various computer magazines that sprang up around that time.

Rich2808

HSBC are also closing a lot of branches - including half their branches in the City of London (the square mile). They must not be expecting those commuters - including city bankers - back en masse any time soon.

[Deleted User]

Rich2808 said:

HSBC are also closing a lot of branches - including half their branches in the City of London (the square mile). They must not be expecting those commuters - including city bankers - back en masse any time soon.

Yes it is a bit scary as even places like the local super markets (co op local, tesco local etc) are starting to close down in the square mile. So many of these little lunch time places are also gone. 

castle96

I'm 69, but 18 in my head!

EssexExile

The cut off age for "old" is 70. I'm 69 and am quite good at using my computer, I bank online and even have a smartphone. My sister is 71, just about manages to almost get by on a computer as long as she doesn't have to do anything too difficult, she has a mobile phone which she uses as a camera because she can't get it to do anything complicated like send a text. If I send her money she tells me she's received it several months later when her bank statement arrives in the post.

7sefton

Branches are expensive, full stop. But also they attract the less affluent and more ‘needy’ type of customer. So the economics look even worse when you factor in the types of people who prefer to use them...

Richer customers with modern jobs are very comfortable - and prefer - taking out higher margin products online.

Meanwhile branch staff spend time dealing with the poor who are quibbling every small transaction on their account which might push them overdrawn, or people who struggle to speak English / understand the banking norms in this country, or the elderly who demand to deal in cash.

I’m not for a second saying these people don’t deserve support, but quite frankly as a customer I don’t want to cross subsidise these people. Either the government should step in to help them, they learn to fend for themselves a bit more, or they put up with the small inconvenience of having less branches available to them.

We’re not a socialist country, and banks aren’t charities.

I’m afraid that’s the way it is.

colsten

7sefton said:

I’m not for a second saying these people don’t deserve support, but quite frankly as a customer I don’t want to cross subsidise these people. Either the government should step in to help them

Who do you reckon the government get "their" money from?