Bank branch closures

Bank branch closures

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Discussion

Sheepshanks

32,535 posts

118 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
condor said:
IWhat I can't do is pay my monthly credit card bill , which I do in the Branch - sometimes by cash and cheque.
You could call the credit card company and pay it by 'phone using a debit card.

condor said:
No, and I don't want to have online banking with my main bank account. I already have 2 other bank accounts which are online and paperless. I want my main bank current account to give me paper statements each month. Have a branch that is convenient for me get to and park close by.
Ours is a normal current account but we access it online and we still get paper statements.

In 35 yrs we've lived here I have literally never been into the branch where our account is held. My wife now and again goes into a branch in another town where she works to pay in cheques. They could be paid in at the village post office.

I couldn't imagine not doing online banking now - my elderly mother and even older father-in-law both use it. The one logistical pain we've had is FIL messed up the pin on one of his cards and wife had to go to a branch to reset it.

Eric Mc

121,784 posts

264 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
And yet, whenever I pop into my local bank branches (for various reasons I need to use Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest) - they ALL have queues.

So, there are still sound reasons for keeping them open.

People have a terrible habit of thinking "Because I can live without a bank branch, why can't everybody else be like me?".

It's the Professor Higgins principle at work.

condor

Original Poster:

8,837 posts

247 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
Greshamst said:
I know it's up to you, but it seems more that you're making your own life harder for yourself.

If you use online banking elsewhere, then you're capable enough to use it in general. Going into branch to pay off your credit card when you use online banking elsewhere is a bit like only using the local library computer to check the weather when you have and use the internet at home.

You can still have paper statements sent to you each month, or alternatively you can login to see your transactions for many many months...
The 2 online bank accounts I have talk to each other , and they're really savings accounts that swop the minimum monthly amount required between themselves via standing order. I keep a note of the interest paid in case it needs to be declared ( it doesn't). One is the TSB, which we all know has had IT problems recently. I did log in to check that everything was working OK during it's problems, everything was fine. Otherwise I need only to log in once a year to satisfy the conditions of the Bank - which I would do to find the interest paid for the year till April 5.

I'm well aware I could use another online bank account, but I want to use a high street branch for my main current account.

My original post did ask what others do when their local branch has shut - some might have posted that they went online and happy to do so, some might have said they now bank at the PO, less likely someone would have said they stuff their money in the mattress. It was
me wondering what others do, and perhaps there was another solution that I hadn't thought of.



RicksAlfas

13,355 posts

243 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
And yet, whenever I pop into my local bank branches (for various reasons I need to use Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest) - they ALL have queues.
Mine too. I use Yorkshire Bank regularly (we still receive a lot of cheques at work) and HSBC occasionally and both are always busy.

RicksAlfas

13,355 posts

243 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
condor said:
I'm well aware I could use another online bank account, but I want to use a high street branch for my main current account.
If it's any help, First Direct are an excellent telephone/online bank and you can use any HSBC high street branch to pay in cheques etc.

C0ffin D0dger

3,440 posts

144 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
I kept my Barclays account after moving to Santander as they have a branch in the town near where I work whereas Santander don't. I also had a platinum account with Barclays which had free CHAPS payments and a debit card that I could withdraw £500 a day on.

Main reason for keeping it though is for paying in the odd cheque I might have been given or making over the counter cash withdrawals (more than £500) if the need arose. Once the cheque is in there I transfer the money to my Santander account (or the other way for cash withdrawal). Even that branch is now only open 4 days a week so I suspect it's only a matter of time before it goes. I'll close the account if it does. Paying in cheques via an app would be handy, don't think Santander do it yet.

randlemarcus

13,507 posts

230 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
Tell that to the hundreds of people who pay us at the charity. I can cope with the new technology. Not all those who deal with us can.

And I'm not so arrogant to tell them we don't want their money unless they pay us in such a way that suits some fat cat bankers. And I'm not so arrogant that I want to force our clients to pay us in a way that suits us and not them.

In time, no doubt, those who like using old fashioned ways of making payments will fade away. But in the meantime, the system has to facilitate everybody.
Sorry, not sure you read the link. They send you a cheque, written on the side of a cow with a quill if they like. You smile gratefully, and YOU take a photo of said cheque, and don't visit a branch.

Sheepshanks

32,535 posts

118 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
And yet, whenever I pop into my local bank branches (for various reasons I need to use Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest) - they ALL have queues.
It's old people checking their money is still there. wink

Robertj21a

16,475 posts

104 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
And yet, whenever I pop into my local bank branches (for various reasons I need to use Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest) - they ALL have queues.

So, there are still sound reasons for keeping them open.

People have a terrible habit of thinking "Because I can live without a bank branch, why can't everybody else be like me?".

It's the Professor Higgins principle at work.
Usually, the reason they've still got queues is that they haven't yet succeeded in getting rid of the totally unnecessary visits from 'old dears' who want to withdraw £10 and pay in a a bag of coins from a piggy bank. Then there will be the local club that has ended up with 150 cheques of £2.50 and the shop down the road that just wants bags of coin for change..........

The queues will get longer once they decide to permanently close down a cashier position, or two, and only then will people realise that many of their transactions can be handled better elsewhere (Post Office, internet etc). For the bank, these time-consuming personal transactions are costly in terms of manpower (and space), with little prospect of any worthwhile returns.

Sheepshanks

32,535 posts

118 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
And yet, whenever I pop into my local bank branches (for various reasons I need to use Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest) - they ALL have queues.
It's old people checking their money is still there. wink

ChrisNic

592 posts

145 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
condor said:
When a bank decides to close the local branch you bank at and use regularly - what do you do?

I ask as I bank at RBS and they're shutting 162 branches across England and Wales. My branch doesn't close till November so have plenty of time to consider alternative Banks .
Is there a Natwest branch nearby? They should be able to handle the majority of your transactions.

Eric Mc

121,784 posts

264 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
randlemarcus said:
Sorry, not sure you read the link. They send you a cheque, written on the side of a cow with a quill if they like. You smile gratefully, and YOU take a photo of said cheque, and don't visit a branch.
You keep saying "you". What if all those millions of "yous" can't or don't want to do any of that? There are plenty of people out there still who are not prepared to carry on like that.

soad

32,829 posts

175 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
NDA said:
Do you use their electronic banking facilities?
Mobile apps are great!! biggrin

Eric Mc

121,784 posts

264 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
Eric Mc said:
And yet, whenever I pop into my local bank branches (for various reasons I need to use Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest) - they ALL have queues.
It's old people checking their money is still there. wink
It is emphatically not. It's usually people asking carrying out fairly complex transactions or local traders depositing cheques from their customers or banking cash takings or extracting cash for the days business.

We do not yet live in a cashless society and I for one hope we never do.

One of the problems is that the banks are now understaffed and can't cope with the numbers who still want to deal with humans and not machines.

V8mate

45,899 posts

188 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
condor said:
I'm a bit old fashioned and have banked at that Branch ( formerly Williams & Glynn) for over 35 years. I pay cash and cheques in, and can do this at the local Post Office. What I can't do is pay my monthly credit card bill , which I do in the Branch - sometimes by cash and cheque. I can also get a mini-statement or readout from the last 'x' number of days ( where x can be anything up to 90 days or so). This can't be done at another Bank or PO.
I accept I'm going to have to change bank accounts, but was interested in what others have done.
It's all very old-fashioned.

My bank exists only in an app - no branches, not even website-based online banking. Same deal with my main credit card too (different bank).

Eric Mc

121,784 posts

264 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
V8mate said:
It's all very old-fashioned.

My bank exists only in an app - no branches, not even website-based online banking. Same deal with my main credit card too (different bank).
Old fashioned does not mean "bad".

There should be choice. For those who are happy to conduct all their banking using on line facilities, by all means let them do so.

For those who don't chose to do that, they should be facilitated too.

condor

Original Poster:

8,837 posts

247 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
ChrisNic said:
Is there a Natwest branch nearby? They should be able to handle the majority of your transactions.
There is a Nat West fairly close by - but I've been told it will do similar as the village PO - accept money and cheques but not give itemised statements or be able to pay bills.

clockworks

5,293 posts

144 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
I have current accounts with 3 banks and a building society. I operate all of these accounts online, and it works well.
I only really visit a branch to pay cheques in. I generally do this using the paying in machine, because it has shorter queues than the cashiers. I can do this at a post office, but I think it takes a few days to hit my account? Not sure if I can pay cash in via a post office?
If I need cash, I'll take it out using an ATM at a supermarket.

I've always found it a bit strange that bank ATMs only seem to take deposits if the machine is inside the branch. It would be handy if you could make deposits into all "proper" ATMs, indoor and outdoor, and with any bank.

There are still times when face to face inside a branch is necessary though - opening new accounts, applying for mortgages and loans, notifying deaths and marriages (name change), registering power of attorney, etc. While much of this could be done by phone, how do they verify ID without the customer being there?

My local town has lost 5 bank branches in the 20 years I've lived here - TSB (closed when merged with Lloyds), Halifax and Nationwide (agencies), HSBC and Santander. There are 3 left - Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest, and I'm expecting Natwest to go soon.
This is a market town that has a catchment of well over 20,000 people. All the banks in the smaller towns have long gone.

I can see a future where supermarkets expand their banking services and install a dedicated banking till (or deposit point) and an interview room in larger stores. Would I be happy with Tesco looking after all my money though?

ChrisNic

592 posts

145 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
condor said:
There is a Nat West fairly close by - but I've been told it will do similar as the village PO - accept money and cheques but not give itemised statements or be able to pay bills.
I don’t know for sure but I don’t believe it is as limited as that.

https://personal.rbs.co.uk/personal/ways-to-bank-E...

V8mate

45,899 posts

188 months

Thursday 17th May 2018
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
V8mate said:
It's all very old-fashioned.

My bank exists only in an app - no branches, not even website-based online banking. Same deal with my main credit card too (different bank).
Old fashioned does not mean "bad".

There should be choice. For those who are happy to conduct all their banking using on line facilities, by all means let them do so.

For those who don't chose to do that, they should be facilitated too.
Sure. Just don't expect, low-cost, tech-friendly customers to pay for your peccadilloes.