Please find below my monthly piece for the Malton Gazette on the potential of banking hubs:
“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” – Dolly Parton
As we continue to navigate the evolving financial landscape, the importance of ensuring banking services remain in rural areas cannot be overstated. We’ve sadly seen the announcement of the closure of many bank branches across the Thirsk and Malton constituency in the past few years, the most recent being Barclays, the last branch in Pickering, due to close its doors next January.
According to Which?, around 6,000 bank and building society branches have closed since January 2015. 50 years ago, almost every banking transaction took place in a branch. Now, that number is around 10 per cent. Banks are therefore changing to reflect customers’ needs, often meaning moving away traditional branch formats and diminishing footfall means this is sadly reflected across many rural areas of the UK. Nonetheless, banks have made around £2.5 billion of cost savings through the closure of branches and the Banking Framework, an agreement between the Post Office and banks, has allowed customers to continue to access banking services.
However, there are reasons to be optimistic. Along with residents, local councillors and banks, I’ve been working hard to mitigate some of the impact of these closures in my constituency. Following talks, Barclays agreed to keep its cashpoint in Helmsley, a vital service for local tradespeople, individuals and small businesses. I’ve also recently met with LINK and work closely with Cash Access and banks’ regional teams about the potential for ‘Banking Hubs’ and other enhanced provisions in Filey, Helmsley, Easingwold, Pickering and Kirkbymoorside. I will keep constituents updated on the progress of these talks. Banking Hubs can mitigate the impact closures have on communities like ours. LINK independently reviews the impact of all changes to banking provision such as bank branch closures in communities and then recommends new services to meet the cash needs of the community as a whole.
A banking hub is a shared banking space, like a traditional bank branch but available to everyone. The hubs have a counter service where customers can withdraw and deposit cash, make bill payments and carry out regular banking transactions. They have private spaces where customers can speak to someone from their own bank about more complex issues. If strategically positioned, these hubs can address issues of accessibility, financial inclusion and small business growth. Post offices also clearly have a critical role to play here in supporting their long term viability, providing cash and banking services for customers and businesses, allowing them to withdraw and deposit cash, deposit cheques and check their current account balance.
As someone born and bred in this area, I know how devastating the impact of losing bank branches can be. I assure constituents I am doing everything I can to safeguard banking services as tangibly as possible. In my role as Minister of Postal Affairs, I am all too conscious of matters such as Horizon to resolve, but on other issues facing the postal network, we may be able to use the potential of banking hubs and enhanced banking services to address the financial needs of rural areas and foster economic growth in our region.
