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Banking Hubs.

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  • TheWoodler
    TheWoodler Posts: 210 Forumite
    Third Anniversary 100 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I agree that a friendly and knowledgeable customer service presence is vital and not just for practical banking help, but in view of social isolation. I suspect that’s a motivation for the sector as a whole, not just the commercial side. The Newbury’s newsletter also highlighted how although digital skill levels, access and safety are issues, additionally social isolation is a growing problem. Interactions in branch may be the only conversations people have all day.

    That said, based on my observations when I use inside ATMs, I suspect the number of customers who are less confident with self-service banking is diminishing, both through the passage of time and through percolation as older family members adopt digital skills. (For disabled people, the digital universe is a lifeline in many cases.) I quite regularly see quite elderly people confidently using ATMs and my late Dad until he died was very happily using ATMs into his 90s. I do recognise that’s not always the norm - I’ve heard a great deal anecdotally about friends’ elderly parents - and I do hope that, however these banking hubs are hosted, they provide a successful commercial and social service and step into the breach caused by the loss of branch banking. 
  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 36,987 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I agree that a friendly and knowledgeable customer service presence is vital and not just for practical banking help, but in view of social isolation. I suspect that’s a motivation for the sector as a whole, not just the commercial side.
    Not quite sure what you mean by 'motivation for the sector' here, but it seems to me that this is very much what many customers want but conversely something that the sector itself is increasingly unwilling to provide?
  • TheBanker
    TheBanker Posts: 2,218 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    eskbanker said:
    I agree that a friendly and knowledgeable customer service presence is vital and not just for practical banking help, but in view of social isolation. I suspect that’s a motivation for the sector as a whole, not just the commercial side.
    Not quite sure what you mean by 'motivation for the sector' here, but it seems to me that this is very much what many customers want but conversely something that the sector itself is increasingly unwilling to provide?
    I'm not sure which sector they were referring to. I don't think addressing social isolation is a major motivation to the main banks - but there is quite a lot of political pressure around maintaining some kind of branch service which is why the main banks set up and fund Cash Access UK, whose main delivery is the Banking Hubs. 

    Social Isolation is a bigger issue - it's not just banks but the fact a lot of supermarkets and convenience stores now have very few staffed checkouts and most of the staffed deli counters, meat counters etc are gone. It's the same in other sectors, e.g. the railways replacing ticket offices with machines, doctors appointments becoming telephone/online consultations... It's an important issue but I'm not sure it's one for business to address.
  • WillPS
    WillPS Posts: 5,122 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Newshound! Name Dropper
    edited 26 April 2024 at 4:18PM
    So far as I understand it, all the non-Post Office options (including OneBanx) require you to sign up with them first in order to do anything, then set up open banking connections to your bank accounts, then finally refresh access every 90 days. Not quite the same in terms of proposition, and a significant barrier to the subset of branch customers with no internet/digital experience; how does one set up an open banking connection when they have no online banking?

    It's also unclear to me who pays for it. Presumably Newcastle BS and/or OneBanx are paying at the moment, but are they really going to be happy servicing third party banks for nothing longer term? If not, are the banks going to be willing to pick up the cost given they already have comprehensive arrangements in place with the Post Office?

    Feels like a bit of a dead end to me.
  • TheBanker
    TheBanker Posts: 2,218 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    WillPS said:
    So far as I understand it, all the non-Post Office options (including OneBanx) require you to sign up with them first in order to do anything, then set up open banking connections to your bank accounts, then finally refresh access every 90 days. Not quite the same in terms of proposition, and a significant barrier to the subset of branch customers with no internet/digital experience; how does one set up an open banking connection when they have no online banking?

    It's also unclear to me who pays for it. Presumably Newcastle BS and/or OneBanx are paying at the moment, but are they really going to be happy servicing third party banks for nothing longer term? If not, are the banks going to be willing to pick up the cost given they already have comprehensive arrangements in place with the Post Office?

    Feels like a bit of a dead end to me.
    You're right. I think it will work well for business customers. They're likely to have online banking and likely already pay to deposit cash. But less so for personal customers. The FCA are also quite concerned about personal customers laundering proceeds of crime through the Post Office, so will likely have similar concerns about these machines. 

    There's also a trial Cash Access UK are running with a shared deposit machine. It uses your debit card  so can be used without registering by customers of most banks (I think it uses the same functionallity as the Post Office counters, so will work for customers whose customers can use the PO). That might have legs, especially if they can get the machines in places like supermarkets.
  • username
    username Posts: 740 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    TheBanker said:
    GTR_King said:
    Can banking hubs do things like
    mortgage applications 
    Print Statements
    Handle cash 

    just wondering 
    No mortgage applications (there won't be a regulated mortgage advisor there, although they can probably arrange an appointment, perhaps via a video call depending on the bank and whether the customer is able)
    They can probably print statements but it will depend on your bank
    There is a Post Office counter in the hub to deal with cash transactions
    Why do they just not have the bank's own ATMs installed inside the hub for when the banker isn't there? That is what they have in other countries - as in they have a cluster of them, say in a shopping mall, and means actual utility can be gained and people can not only get cash, but do basic account management (get statements, manage their account, products etc), all with the relatively simplicity of having a card and PIN. 
  • WillPS
    WillPS Posts: 5,122 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Newshound! Name Dropper
    username said:
    TheBanker said:
    GTR_King said:
    Can banking hubs do things like
    mortgage applications 
    Print Statements
    Handle cash 

    just wondering 
    No mortgage applications (there won't be a regulated mortgage advisor there, although they can probably arrange an appointment, perhaps via a video call depending on the bank and whether the customer is able)
    They can probably print statements but it will depend on your bank
    There is a Post Office counter in the hub to deal with cash transactions
    Why do they just not have the bank's own ATMs installed inside the hub for when the banker isn't there? That is what they have in other countries - as in they have a cluster of them, say in a shopping mall, and means actual utility can be gained and people can not only get cash, but do basic account management (get statements, manage their account, products etc), all with the relatively simplicity of having a card and PIN. 
    You'd need quite a big floor for that many separate ATMs! It's been a long time since any bank invested in services available through their ATMs; even in your own bank's ATM, presuming it isn't a deposit machine, the most you can do is order a chequebook or print a 'mini-statement' (essentially a glorified balance slip!). 
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