Late yesterday afternoon (Thursday 2 May) Danny Kruger met with Marlborough West Wiltshire Councillor, Jane Davies (who has made this a priority issue) and a group from the Marlborough business community who were all very concerned about Marlborough becoming a ‘bank-less’ town once the Lloyds branch closes in November.
Important for many businesses, as how will they be able to deal with cash? And other aspects of their operations as a visit to the branch is to many a ‘must’, and a trip to Swindon or Devizes can’t always be made during opening hours.
It’s not just the business customers. Older people will likely be affected, as do many of those who have banked with ‘their branch’ of Lloyds for years, or decades. And how many will want to go through the unwelcome upheaval of changing their bank? Many may also be mobile phone and computer phobic, but many like the old fashioned, old style comfort of shaking someone’s hand, many worry about fraud, many feel disenfranchised. Surveys over the years have shown that changing one’s bank is one of life’s stressful experiences.
Cllr Davies told those assembled: “As Wiltshire Councillor for Marlborough West and also a Town Councillor I took on trying to get a community banking hub for Marlborough following the sad news that Lloyds bank will close in November. I am in contact with both Link (who assess needs for cash services) and Cash Access (who provide the hubs). Link automatically assess when they are informed of a bank or building society closure and also allow a community application which are sometimes successful. I put in an application on behalf of Marlborough using the latest population data to demonstrate community needs.”
Adding: “However, as Marlborough has a Nationwide Building Society where we can have personal accounts, we were assessed as having sufficient services for individuals. But the need for cash access for businesses, charities and local sports clubs etc was recognised. We are now working to collect information from local organisations and businesses to ensure the cash service for them will be sufficient.”
Last night’s meeting with Danny Kruger MP in attendance was the first step in this process. Danny will be lending his political weight.
Jane told Marlborough.news: “We are meeting soon with Cash Access who provide these services to lobby and scope out the right provision for Marlborough. We are also meeting with Lloyds bank to understand exactly what services will be available from their offer to station bank staff in the Library for one day each week.”
Going forward there are four options:
- Use another town – After Lloyds closes, the closest bank is in Swindon (while the bus stop in Marlborough is easy and right outside Lloyds, in Swindon it is quite a walk to the bank)
- Use the Library (one day a week) or Post Office (big queues already)
- Banking hubs – In other towns, shared banking hubs have been set up. (This operates in a similar way to a standard branch, with a counter service run by Post Office staff where customers of almost any bank can withdraw and pay in cash, pay bills and carry out regular transactions. There are also private spaces where customers can speak to someone, with trained specialists from different banks available on different days). However, because of Nationwide, (guaranteed they are not shutting until 2028), Marlborough is not eligible. Lloyd’s is advising its private clients to move their accounts to Nationwide but, as Britian’s biggest building society, it does not offer small businesses banking.
- Deposit Services – When towns are not eligible for a hub, Deposit Services are suggested – designed to help shops and other businesses that would otherwise have nowhere local to bank their takings safely, securely and privately. BUT, not entirely clear what a Deposit Service would look like.
What to do next: The opinion of those present was that there needed to be some to investment in finding support and alternatives that work for people and to put something in place before November. Certainly, the scale of the issue needs to be determined. Part of this is to get information back from Lloyds regarding how much is deposited by businesses/charities etc. And then look to create a campaign, once the scope of the whole issue is identified.
Nationwide cash point back in action – tested by the Mayor
