Another 772 bank branches bite the dust in 2018

BANKS and building societies have closed 772 branches this year.

RBS/NatWest has shut 431, Barclays 150, Lloyds Banking Group 108, and Santander 46.

Banks say they are responding to more customers accessing their accounts online and claim they cannot afford to run branches that have become unprofitable.

But critics say the closures are limiting access for the elderly and those who do not use the internet.

Writing for The Mail on Sunday today, Joe Garner, chief executive of Nationwide Building Society, says: ‘There is no reason that we can’t have branches and new technology.’

ALARM bells rang when Arthur, a longstanding member of Nationwide in his 70s, asked to withdraw an unusually large amount of cash. He claimed, with conviction, that he needed to pay builders for work on his front drive. Despite reasonable and responsible prodding from staff, he stuck to his story.

Arthur is well known to the branch; they even know where he lives. So on their way home, a couple of the team chose to drive past his house to look for signs of building work. There were none.

Arthur returned to the branch the following day, asking to transfer more money to the builders. When our team again sensitively questioned the request, he broke down in tears, explaining that he was being coerced by a gang waiting in a car outside.

Arthur’s story is a reminder of the powerful role that bank and building society branches can play in our communities. The scam might never have come to light if he was transferring money over the internet.

I often hear senior bank executives say branches are ‘dead’, or that customers ‘only come into our branches once a year’. My view is that even if someone comes into a branch for the first time in a long time, they are doing so for a reason.

This could be a parent and child opening their first current account or someone querying a suspicious looking email asking for money.

The same applies to those who use branches much more frequently to make payments or withdraw and deposit money.

No wonder, then, that many customers feel short-changed as local branches evaporate one by one, particularly in remote areas. There is no reason that we can’t have branches and embrace the new technology such as mobile phone banking apps – the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

Yes, footfall on the high street is falling. But communities still desperately need focal points in the digital age.

By justifying branch closures as cost savings and little else, aren’t we further depriving them of that? I don’t know how many bank branches have closed because they don’t make enough profit, but I do know that this can never be the primary reason for us.

While we cannot run services at a loss long-term, our branches are not about driving margins.

It’s important to remember that not everyone lives in techsavvy London and more people are over 50 than under 30. I write this having just been to my mother’s 80th birthday. Many of her friends choose never to bank online. We cannot turn our backs on the generations that enabled us to live as we do today.

Indeed, much of our growth has come as our competitors abandoned the communities they once served.

Our new current account openings through the branch network have grown by more than a third across the last five years. Looking ahead, we’re committed to launching a business current account aimed at the UK’s 5.6 million small businesses, of which many are on the high street.

That is not to say that we will never close a branch – sometimes it’s the right thing to do. But we believe it’s worth investing to have a physical presence where people will want to be, and don’t see our network changing dramatically any time soon.

In fact, we’re investing more than £80 million in our branches this year alone – from highdefinition video, iPads and laptops to creating areas where members can chat, read a newspaper or have a coffee.

The wider picture is that we are investing an additional £1.3 billion in technology so our digital and traditional services become as integrated as possible for the needs of people today and tomorrow.

As for Arthur and his run-in with opportunistic criminals – as soon as the branch team heard the full story they called the police and arrests were made.

I remain passionate about the potential of technology, but only when it is built around people. There are some things you just can’t get from an app.

I am passionate about the potential of technology – but only when it is built around people