Local branch of Bank closure

Our local banks have closed, but since most of my transactions are online, the closures don’t bother me. If I need cash, my local “strip mall” (can’t think of a British equivalent), has a cash-point, so has Asda and Tesco .

We gave no local banks now.

My OH went into Barclays on their last day and asked whether they were having a closing-down sale - two for the price of one?.

The cashier did smile but was probably feeling quite sad about losing his job.

No, I bank online. I do still have a branch 4 miles away which I’ll need to go to with my passport to prove id, how they’d do that otherwise I don’t know.

My Mum's local branch has just closed. She has banked there for 70 years. This closure has made her even more anxious than she already was.
Luckily I was here when a scam call came. She had answered one herself earlier in the week. As she is very deaf she would normally go to her branch and ask them to check that all was well with her accounts rather than phoning the customer services. She now feels very vulnerable.
I know banks aren't responsible for the mental health of their clients, but my mum can't be the only one feeling bereft and isolated. She lives in a big town in Sussex, not a village or out in the sticks. It's very sad.

My bank is only online they do not have branches.

The post office is so handy to take out and put in money to our RBS account . We paid in a cheque by photographing it direct to our account recently . We do not miss a local bank but I love online banking anyway .

No. We bank online and there is also the phone if necessary. Cash can be withdrawn at the PO, and cheques paid in too. It’s simply not viable for banks to maintain a physical presence when so few customers walk through the door.

There's very little point in changing banks. All of them are closing branches at a rate of knots. You could go to all that hassle only for them to close the next week. It happened to me.

I still have to pay a lot of cheques in for work (longish story) but as Germanshepherdsmum says, you can do basic banking at most (maybe all?) Post Offices these days.

Obviously more complicated things will have to be done by phone or online.

Well it’s been quite chicken and egg - more and more banking can be done online so ‘footfall’ in banks is mainly people who find that difficult. Telephoning is not always easy for the elderly or easily confused either. There should be many more mobile banks, like mobile libraries.
New technology that affects everybody should proceed at the pace of the average person, not of the fastest.

GermanShepherdsMum It’s simply not viable for banks to maintain a physical presence when so few customers walk through the door.

I agree, and of course I understand this. I don't understand why a branch has been closed when there was always a queue both for the cashier and the automatic machines. It's a crying shame.

Winterwhite
The vast majority of people in the world are average and that is the pace that tech has progressed.

lixy

GermanShepherdsMum It’s simply not viable for banks to maintain a physical presence when so few customers walk through the door.

I agree, and of course I understand this. I don't understand why a branch has been closed when there was always a queue both for the cashier and the automatic machines. It's a crying shame.

I can’t remember which bank it was but my partner said a local branch closed down but sent out a mobile van. This was then stopped because they said it wasn’t being used which was a downright lie because lots of people used it.

We do have most banks and several building societies in town, but the few cheques I have I pay in at the terminal, the rest is done online. I had to open a new account and went to the counter only to be directed to a computer terminal to input my own details.
Everything is online these days if you have the card or passwords it’s easy.

We still have a few banks in our local town but a lot of country banks have closed.People are not happy about it,either. Tough if you don’t use or have internet services, which some don’t.

The banks in my town are still open and are busier than ever, with more people having to come here because their own local branch has closed.
It is a grave mistake to force everyone to have on-line banking and no cash. All it needs is for the system to shut down and everything grinds to a halt.

The reason why banks close, even if they have queues, is because the transactions that are being done are pretty worthless, i.e. paying bills or drawing out cash. If it’s not making profit…….

I used to work for Barclays in a smallish village. Lloyds next door closed unexpectedly. We rubbed our hands as we opened new accounts for these Lloyds customers.

And then what? 3 months later it was announced that we too were closing in about 6 weeks time. Had no idea. Felt horribly guilty about opening these accounts, but who knew?

Certainly not us, the staff.

We have 5 banks and two building societies in our seaside town. Maybe being a tourist spot makes a difference.

Well I’m in a popular tourist area too and we have no banks or building societies.

I agree and understand all your comments, thank you. I bank online but have had to visit the branch for the odd thing or two. I had problems scanning a cheque that I wanted to pay in, probably down to my lack of experience but I am sure I will get the hang of it if I ever need to try again, it's a very rare occurrence to have a cheque to pay in! Another concern is if anyone needs to have a private conversation e.g. sorting out a loan/mortgage/ relative's finances?

Possibly by phone or a video call Avia?

Avia

I agree and understand all your comments, thank you. I bank online but have had to visit the branch for the odd thing or two. I had problems scanning a cheque that I wanted to pay in, probably down to my lack of experience but I am sure I will get the hang of it if I ever need to try again, it's a very rare occurrence to have a cheque to pay in! Another concern is if anyone needs to have a private conversation e.g. sorting out a loan/mortgage/ relative's finances?

You can pay in most cheques via the post office if you have one near to you