Facing up to life in a town with no bank
Many older people don’t like online banking. How can they cope if their branch closes, asks Sam Meadows
Boasting a steam railway, an annual regatta and a castle, the small seaside town of Dartmouth in Devon provides just the idyllic escape beloved of holidaying families or retired couples. But following the closure of the town’s Lloyds branch in March, and its HSBC last year, the town’s ageing population of almost 7,000 people now has only one bank at its disposal. Many other towns are down to their last bank – or have none at all – as the big lenders continue to cut back their branch networks in response to the rise of online services.
While many customers appreciate the convenience of banking online, vast swathes of the population, particularly the elderly, who are less familiar with the latest technology or simply don’t trust it, are being cut off from banking.
Because of its relative isolation, residents of Dartmouth who want to visit a physical bank are now forced to take a 40-minute bus ride to Totnes, unless they are a customer of Natwest, the town’s one remaining bank branch.
‘I just like speaking to a human being’
Gail Richmond, 70, who chairs the area’s U3A, a social club for the elderly, said some of her members felt very unsure about making use of online banking.
“I don’t use online banking at all,” she said. “I know it’s silly but I just don’t feel it’s secure enough. I can do certain things on the computer, such as email, but I still have to ask for help with other things. I think there are quite a few people like me. I just like speaking to a human being. If you want a loan, for instance, you can go in and see someone – people do like that.”
Another 74-year-old Dartmouth resident said he was yet to be converted to online banking, despite being familiar with technology in other areas.
“I don’t use online banking. I’m pretty clued-up on computers but I don’t trust them for that,” said the resident, who did not wish to be named. “I would rather go into a bank as it’s so much simpler. I deal with computers all the time at work and the last thing I want is to do more faffing about with one at home. I still want to do everything with paper.”
He said he now waited for one of his trips to Totnes, Exeter or London and did all his banking then. He added that the closure of the Lloyds branch had caused problems as it had left the town with only four cash machines.
“There was a bank holiday on a Friday recently and all the cash machines had run out of money by Saturday afternoon,” he said. “All the tourists who wanted to get money out were stuck.”
The switch to online banking – and why not everyone is able to take part
The percentage of adults who regularly bank online has doubled in the past 10 years to just over 60pc, according to Statista, a market research firm. But that still leaves a significant chunk of the population, especially among the elderly, who prefer to bank in person.
Caroline Abrahams, a director of Age UK, said the charity regularly heard from elderly people who were struggling to deal with their money. “The increasing reliance on online banking is difficult for many, particularly the high numbers who don’t have smartphones or internet access,” she said. “There is still quite a sizeable proportion of the population, on our assessment about four million people, who are not online at all, let alone able to do internet banking. And that figure is not changing fast enough to justify the withdrawal of branch-based services.
“The effect of branch closures is to leave some customers – especially older people who are offline or live in rural areas – stranded and many towns and suburbs without any bank branch at all.”
She added: “Problems are exacerbated when branch closures coincide with areas of poor bus services, poor internet connections and mobile black spots, making both digital and ‘real world’ alternatives difficult for customers to access.”
How are banks helping?
Banks are making efforts to ease the problems caused by branch closures. Lloyds is rolling out a fleet of mobile banks, and aims to have 16 on the road by the end of the year. A Lloyds
spokesman said: “Our new fleet of mobile branches provides a vital service to customers in rural and semi-rural communities, alongside other ways to access banking locally.
“We remain committed to our branch network, and branches will continue to play an important role in our multichannel approach to meeting customer needs.”
Referring to Dartmouth specifically, the spokesman said the branch had only 38 “regular” customers, which had forced the group to make the “difficult decision” to close it. “One of our new mobile branches now visits Dartmouth twice a week, and personal customers are able to use this for many of their everyday banking needs.”
For more information on banking services available at the Post Office, visit postoffice.co.uk/branch-bankingservices
‘There is still quite a sizeable proportion of the population who are not online at all’