Santander to close 95 branches

GeoffTF

eskbanker said:

GeoffTF said:

eskbanker said:

GeoffTF said:

Looking poor and not worth mugging has worked so far.

That sounds like confusing correlation with causation, or is there statistically significant evidence of local muggers specifically targeting well-dressed victims?

I do not know. I get the impression that you are more likely to be mugged if you are wearing a Rolex than a Casio. I also expect that you are more likely to be mugged if you drive a Bentley rather than an old banger. Similarly, I expect that you are more likely to be a victim of crime if you live in a mansion rather than an estate house. I asked Google:

https://professionalsecurity.co.uk/news/vertical-markets/crime-survey-of-wealthy/

Wealthy people do seem to be more likely to be victims of crime, but the criminals have to know that they are wealthy. There are plenty of multi-millionaires who acquired their money by investing it rather than spending it, so perhaps the raw statistics do not tell the whole story here.

It doesn't seem particularly surprising that Professional Security magazine would publish a piece asserting that those with bigger houses are at higher risk of burglary, given their obvious vested interest!  However, even looking at it neutrally, there would be a more obvious cause and effect when it comes to which properties are more likely to be targeted by burglars, whereas I doubt it would be as clear-cut in the world of opportunistic muggers - I can imagine that anyone choosing to flaunt plenty of bling might be increasing their personal risk, but wouldn't see any significance in clothing choices for Joe Public on the average high street....

The article was quoting insurance company statistics, but your general point may be right. Here are some statistics for credit card theft:

https://www.finder.com/uk/credit-cards/credit-card-fraud-statistics

"In 2022, there were over 400,000 cases of lost and stolen card fraud, which totalled losses of over £100 million."

Having your card lost or stolen is clearly a significant risk. That does not appear to be reflected in the number of thefts from the person reported to the police. The area where I live was "deprived" according to Gordon Brown, but there are lots of big detached houses with several luxury cars parked outside, and a shop selling Rolex watches up the road. Do muggers size up their victims before they strike? I do not know, but I expect that they do.

TheBanker

GeoffTF said:

molerat said:

Won't use an outdoor cash machine, she goes into branch and withdraws cash

I very rarely use ATMs, but I would have thought that was plain common sense. It is several years since I used an ATM at a branch, but I always used one of those indoors. I thought everyone did the same, unless they were in a hurry and all the indoor ATMs were busy.

The new Santander branch in the city where I live has only outdoor ATMs. Perhaps they are doing that to reduce the number of people coming into the branch, so that they can close it down.

If I was withdrawing a large amount of cash (more than £50 say), I would do it is stages to reduce the risk of being mugged. Carrying cash is risky, so I try to avoid it.

I prefer not to carry cash, but I pay for most things on my card. Like you though if I do need cash I prefer to use an indoor ATM, it just feels safer, not that I am particularly fearful of being mugged (plus there is the benefit of not getting wet if it's raining!). If I needed a large amount of cash for some reason I would probably use a Post Office.

My local Santander branch (not closing) only has outdoor ATMs too - It could be as you say a cynical move to make the branch appear less busy. Alternatively it could be because their branches are only open for a few hours a day now, so it makes more sense to have the ATMs externally available so they can be used when the branch is closed. 

When I moved here in 2018, the local market town high street had four banks (Lloyds, TSB, Barclays and Natwest). Now they're all gone, we're left with just a Post Office and a single ATM outside the Co-op that often breaks down. As someone who started his banking career in a branch, I think it's sad, but inevitable. Even when I last worked in a branch about 20 years ago footfall was dropping as customers made use of online banking, card payments and direct debits. 

GeoffTF

TheBanker said:

My local Santander branch (not closing) only has outdoor ATMs too - It could be as you say a cynical move to make the branch appear less busy. Alternatively it could be because their branches are only open for a few hours a day now, so it makes more sense to have the ATMs externally available so they can be used when the branch is closed.

That prompted me to look at the opening hours of my local Santa branch. Edit: 09:30 - 15:00 Monday to Friday. 09:30 - 12:30 Saturday. Not good, but could be worse. (I previously got the opening hours of the mall in which the branch is situated.)

Hoenir

GeoffTF said:

TheBanker said:

My local Santander branch (not closing) only has outdoor ATMs too - It could be as you say a cynical move to make the branch appear less busy. Alternatively it could be because their branches are only open for a few hours a day now, so it makes more sense to have the ATMs externally available so they can be used when the branch is closed.

That prompted me to look at the opening hours of my local Santa branch. 9am - 7pm Monday to Saturday, and 11am - 5pm on Sunday. That is pretty decent. Perhaps competition from the new Metro bank is having an effect, 

Our local Metro bank has reduced it's hours now to 9.30 to 5.00 Monday to Friday. Closed weekends. Cost saving efficiency you'd imagine. 

RedImp_2

My Santander bank account has a monthly fee. Does this mean I can ensure my branch will remain open (judging early comments on this thread)

Middle_of_the_Road

RedImp_2 said:

My Santander bank account has a monthly fee. Does this mean I can ensure my branch will remain open (judging early comments on this thread)

I'm guessing this is a retorical question.
 
The small fee you pay Santander, gives you the opportunity to receive cashback, and in the case of the Edge account, a high interest savings account.

The previous comments were referring to a situation where all current accounts would involve a significant operating charge, as is apparently the case in other countries.

Hoenir

RedImp_2 said:

My Santander bank account has a monthly fee. Does this mean I can ensure my branch will remain open (judging early comments on this thread)

Paying a monthly fee unfortunately gives you no rights to dictate what your bank may to decide to do in the future. 

confederated

molerat said:

Don't know about that but when they merged with Alliance BS in 1985 it was the largest BS merger ever.

They also took over Girobank which merged with A&L on 2003.