432 Bank Branches Closed In Previous 12 Months......

Yes absolutely infuriating. I moved to a county town, where in the beginning there were several banks to choose from. I was with TSB which closed, moved to Halifax, again very helpful and pleasant staff, that closed. Moved to Santander, feeling more sure that it would remain as it was newly sorted out, very well done, new machines inside and out, opening doors so that you could go in on mobility scooter. Extremely helpful staff and no complaints at all.

About 2 years ago I was in a situation where it looked as though someone could have been trying to get into my account. I spent nearly 40 minutes on the phone to get through to the fraud team. If it had been a con they would have had time to empty the account before I even got through. So I determined to go to a bank with a branch in the town. Quicker and safer to go direct to the bank, where they actually know me. I will never bank with Barclays as they supported apartheid in south africa , and so now I shall have to think of something else.

The major problem is also that as they have closed smaller branches up the dales this was one of the few places with banking available to private people and small business and you are left with bank hubs, that do give some help, but not the full banking that we should have and deserve. I feel extremely sorry for the good staff who will lose their jobs, and furious that the banks are allowed to get away with giving us less and less, and expecting us to do all the phoning and organising. Looks like the building societies are going to provide some basic banking for indivuals but cannot see any way that business can avoid having to travel further, costing both more money and time to bank their own money , while the banks sit back and pretend that they are giving a service still!!

My partners Santander branch is closing. He’s always said if they closed it he would no longer bank with them. I feel sorry for the staff who are lovely. He’s written to the local paper about it and the local MP is getting involved. Nationwide are getting new customers because they promise to keep branches open but I bet, in a couple of years when people have switched to them they then start closing down too.

Presume they are closing because they are getting less physical customers and it’s not cost effective. I can’t remember the last time I went into our bank it must be 15 years ago or more.

The banking hub I used a few times has now closed 😩

I've been with TSB since my gran took me in to sign up in 1967.... and rejoined when the Lloyds/TSB partnership was dissolved. I now live on a remote island where there are several banks still functioning at the moment but TSB now has a banking hub where I can pay bills etc. I do not do online banking, despite having used a computer since the 90's both at work and at home because of all the scams and not wanting to give my bank that much power over my limited assets with no easily accessible accountability. However, they do not have a printer at the hub so no receipts, and they no longer show me the transaction on the screen as they used to. I was dismayed to learn last year that Santander is in the process of negotiating taking over TSB...... Given all the other stuff that is going on in the world I can't help feeling George Orwell's 1984 was, indeed prophetic......!

I moved from Santander to Nationwide in December, as they promised to keep branches open until at least 2030, plus I received £175, and they pay interest on money in your current account of 5% up to £1500, then after a year it is 1%.

Who knows what will happen after that, doubt any branches will be left of any Bank.

They are assuming ongoing competency online.
For some people that is assumimg a lot.
Banks saving millions by closing branches should be forced to provide safe, fully secure telephone banking.

Safe? I think they mostly work from home?

Colls

They are assuming ongoing competency online.
For some people that is assumimg a lot.
Banks saving millions by closing branches should be forced to provide safe, fully secure telephone banking.

Who would force them, and why?

Free banking is a relatively recent phenomenon, and many people keep fairly small amounts in current accounts, preferring to get interest in ISAs and so on for savings, so I doubt there is much return on investment for most branches. Paying staff and rent/business rates on premises must mean that keeping them open is too expensive, or they wouldn't be closing them. Not everyone would prefer telephone banking, and again, that would cost money to staff - online banking is popular, and must be cheaper for the banks.

They aren't obliged to give us free staffing/services, and if they don't make anything from it they won't.

I do feel sad for those losing what used to be the ultimate in safe employment, but it's no surprise that it's happening.

When I was a student I banked with Nat West as they had a branch in the University for students to use. When I left that uni and igned up for a postgraduate course I had loads of issues with bank errors so after leaving university I moved to the Midland - now HSBC - as there was a branch in the centre of the town I'd moved to. That branch remains open but I no-longer live there and my local branch has now closed meaning a slightly longer trip to a branch.
Meanwhile I opened a Nationwide account to use as a second current account giving interst and to access their savings accounts . A few years ago they closed all the small branches in our area, including in my village, which was always busy. At the time I wrote trying to get them to reconsider prior to the closure. Shortly after closing our branches they began their advertising campaign saying they wouoldn't close more branches, but they had just closed 3 locally. That really annoyed me!
I haven't taken my business elsewhere as my mortgage is with them, and to be fair I do most of my banking online, but I do like the option to see someone face to face occasionally and I really feel for those who don't have access to online/phone baniking who may have to travel miles to a branch.
Unfortunately it is the way the world is going. More and more transactions are done by card so some businesses no longer take cash payments. This puts prices up as banks take a cut from every card transaction. Ift is very much a case of 'Use it or lose it'.
My mother refused to have her pension paid into her bank for years as she preferred to collect in cash from the local sub-post office. She said if we stopped using the post office as much it would close! Eventually the choice to be paid in cash was take away and many post offices closed as mum predicted. Unfortunately we only have ourselves to blame as we haven't used the services enough, then we complain that they are taken away.

Santander taking over TSB has caused many TSB branches to close with even more to follow. All banks seem to be reducing branches. There is one banking hub near me Virgin and Santander, wonder which part will cease first. Banks want us to invest with them but don't seem to consider some people like to discuss their possible options with a knowledgeable person not a bot on a computer.

I travel -2 m for any real bank now. All closed in 4 yrs

I have had very recent experience of problems with banking apps which, despite me being fairly tech savvy, have caused major inconvenience. Online banking has many limitations and, as we saw recently, are beleaguered with security problems.

However putting that aside, a major issue for our age group is that banks and government are failing to acknowledge that although many older people are very competent with IT, there is still a sizeable percentage of the population that have had no formal training (it was inkwells and dip-in pens when I was in junior school) and that inevitably the skill level will vary greatly depending on whether experience was gained in the workplace, income level (computers and broadband provision are not cheap) and aptitude/interest.

Little has been done to address this. In future when the population consists only of people that were taught IT skills from reception class, living life through a screen might be possible, but that time is not yet…….WE ARE STILL HERE!!!!
(Sorry for shouting)

The High Street are dying- let's be honest if people choose internet shopping and banking what do they expect will happen?

I now have to travel 45 minutes on the bus to my branch who promise there are no closures happening for the immediate future.

We'll see.

Time to completely re-think what our town centres are for. Commerce doesn't seem to be one of them.

The people I feel sorry for are the people who don’t do on line . There are quite a lot of- fortunately I was forced to become competent on line it would have become “obselelete ” in my job . I found it terribly difficult .

Graso
You are talking as if tech has just appeared.
Most of the members on this site joined the tech revolution about 30 years ago, and longer.
I didn’t need it for my job but still embraced it.
I’m 80 and most of the people I know now who dismissed it as a fad are the ones now left behind.
Some years ago there were free lessons to be had. The schemes folded through lack of interest.

petra

Graso
You are talking as if tech has just appeared.
Most of the members on this site joined the tech revolution about 30 years ago, and longer.
I didn’t need it for my job but still embraced it.
I’m 80 and most of the people I know now who dismissed it as a fad are the ones now left behind.
Some years ago there were free lessons to be had. The schemes folded through lack of interest.

I am not talking as if tech has just appeared Petra, I’m simply stating the fact that people are being left behind because there soon won’t be any choice, that those people will in the main be from the older generation, and that those who aren’t able to keep up with the tech revolution, for whatever reason, are going to be left unable to function financially.

Online banking requires confidence as well as skill - one misplaced dot or extra 0 could spell disaster! I don't think anyone can be blamed for feeling uneasy with it and for preferring to deal with a competent human being.

Additionally, online banking has many limitations (amounts that can be transferred or paid out each day for example) so in-branch banking will still be necessary. If branches continue to close this will necessitate long journeys to the nearest bank and this is likely to have the most impact on the older generation, tech savvy or not.

Obviously people posting on this site are IT literate, but nevertheless the OP and other posters still find the closure of so many banks, and enforced online banking a problem.

Being proud of keeping up with the times is all very well but unfortunately not everyone can. That doesn’t mean their needs should be ignored.

I have done online banking with First Direct for about 15 years and that used to be very good because you could pay cash in at Midland Bank (which became HSBC).

Alongside that I had a Barclays account then Barclays closed so I transferred it all over to Nationwide. The staff in there are really helpful and I do like to pop in and pay money in or get advice.

I always thought it was a use it or lose it, until I had cause to visit Barclays in Wisbech, while visiting the town. The queue was doubled inside (an area of at least 30ft, then out of the door; three counters in operation, plus a lady walking up and down asking if she could help anyone use the self serve machines.
They closed the branch about 3 weeks later, leaving customers with a trip of at least 20 miles

A lot of customers are moving to Nationwide as they have promised to keep branches open for a few years. Our local one is excellent with very helpful staff. We do bank online as well but if there is a problem it is much easier to pop in and talk to someone.
Hopefully because they are gaining more customers they will see it as a USP and keep branches open. Vote with your feet!

Indeed, Cambia. I'm a longtime happy Nationwide customer. Of course, I bank online, but use my branch occasionally for help.
However, I understand from my hairdresser that business banking has to be at a bank, which Nationwide is not.
It is the only bank facility in my town, so she is obliged to travel to the next town, park , then walk through the town to deposit cash from her salon. She says that she feels vulnerable doing this.
The bank branch opposite her business, which she used for many years, is a pizza takeaway now.

I’ve had an account with Nationwide since I was 16 (now nearly 70), and have always been very happy with them. Since my first house purchase and marriage I got into the habit of having a current account at a different bank for “household” and using Nationwide for my personal income and spending. And in case there should ever be a problem with accessing one bank, there’s the other to fall back on.

I have switched that second account several times when MSE flags a good deal. Switched to NatWest a few years ago, went to the nearest branch, in the little market town instead of going into the city centre, to present my ID for inspection. I said how nice it was that they were quite local, and the cashier laughed and said the branch was closing at the end of the month.

A year later I switched to Lloyds, visited their branch in the same town to see a notice in their window that they would be closing in a few months. These were both in lovel old buildings, well placed in a town now swamped with charity shops, nail bars, tattoo parlours and Turkish barbers. Nationwide had a branch when I moved here 35 years ago but that reduced to a counter in the estate agent s, then closed altogether.

Our village post office can accept a debit card to deposit it withdraw from some banks but not all, for Nationwide I can withdraw cash but not deposit any, yet with my other account now at Santander I can do both. The post office could do well by standardising which banks they support full banking services.

We are the fourth largest city in the country and yet there are only two branches of Barclays here now - one in a northern suburb and one in the city centre which has recently moved from being a large premises on two floors to a single story premises (blink and you’ll miss it) further down the High Street with just one counter. This, I have no doubt, will disappear in due course.
Our local branch closed about three years ago and the owner of the thriving butchers business next door to it was complaining that without it, he had nowhere to bank his takings or draw out cash for a float as many of his customers preferred cash to card transactions. He had to bank his takings in the next town. Not long afterwards that branch also closed, he decided to close his shop and retire so not only did we lose our bank, we also lost one of the few remaining butchers in the area.

Chocolatelovinggran business cash can be deposited at the Post Office if there is one local to your friend.