Banks shut doors across South Wales

THE doors have closed for good at at least 13 banks in South Wales in the past two years.

Of the four biggest banks – HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest – more than 600 branches have closed across Britain.

At least 38 bank branches have closed for good in Wales since 2015 – with another 19 set to shut before the end of the year.

Since October 2015, Cardiff banks run by the four which have closed are Barclays in Birchgrove, Cardiff Bay and Lloyds in Canton.

Branches have also closed in Tonyrefail, Llantwit Major, Nelson, Mountain Ash and Pontypridd.

The Natwest branch in Aberdare will close later this month followed by Natwest in Ystrad Mynach.

Barclays in Porth and Llandaff are also due to close before the end of the year.

HSBC is due to close its Churchill Way branch in Cardiff on December 1.

When it was announced the Aberdare branch would close, Cynon Valley MP Ann Clwyd said her constituents relied on the banks.

She said: “I know how my constituents – especially elderly and disabled constituents – rely upon local bank branches.

“In the last year, we have seen HSBC and Lloyd’s close branches and I know that it has had an adverse effect on my constituents.

“It is, therefore, unacceptable that NatWest has decided to do this. It shows a lack of social concern and responsibility as many residents in the Valleys are not familiar with telephone and internet banking.”

After the closure, the closest NatWest for customers in Aberdare will be the Heads of the Valley branch in Merthyr Tydfil – more than seven miles away.

Cardiff North MP Anna McMorrin said banks were vital for communities.

“High street banks are a critical par of our community and vital in maintaining links for access,” she said.

“It’s one of the key things that people most miss – having access to financial services.

“That access is so important for all people but especially those who are elderly, vulnerable or families.”

In her constituency some banks have been replaced with a mobile service.

“The feedback has been that it is better than nothing but they would much rather have something that was there all the time to access whenever it was needed”.

The banks said the decisions to close the branches were not taken lightly and were in response to their customers increasingly using internet and telephone banking instead of going in person.

Barclays will have closed 24 of its Welsh branches, Natwest 17, Lloyds 13 and HSBC three by the end of this year.

A spokesman from Barclays said: “In order to stay relevant and competitive to our customers, we will continue to evolve the shape and size of our branch network, as well as improving and investing in the experience in-branch. We also provide our customers, including businesses, with a range of digital channels to provide them with a choice of how they bank with us.

“The number of physical Barclays branches will reduce overall but our branch network and the colleagues who work in them remain a vital part of our offering.

“With customers visiting our branches less and less each year, we must constantly assess how and why our branches are used and make decisions based on that insight.

“The size and shape of our branch network is dependent on how and why our customers use them and is therefore subject to change. However we expect 90-100 branches to close across the UK during 2017, leaving us with more than 1,200 branches by the end of this year – the largest branch network on the UK high street.

“Where we do take the difficult decision to close a branch, we work closely with the local community to understand their needs and whether there is an alternative solution we can provide.”