Bank Closures – Hinterland https://hinterland.org.uk Rural News Sun, 16 Feb 2020 08:57:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5 Over two-thirds of Brits think rural communities are neglected by the Government https://hinterland.org.uk/over-two-thirds-of-brits-think-rural-communities-are-neglected-by-the-government/ Sun, 16 Feb 2020 08:55:07 +0000 http://hinterland.org.uk/?p=13337 A colleague drew my attention to this article, which is somewhat off the beaten track of my usual reading but has some very powerful insights. It tells us:

69 per cent of British workers agree the government prioritises cities over rural communities, according to a new survey released by Retail Financial Consulting Limited (RFCL), the ATM optimisation and web-based solutions provider for the banking and retail sector.

The survey, which was conducted by research company Censuswide, polled 2,000 British workers in February 2020. The research found that 71 per cent of respondents agree that rural areas have substantially worse broadband and transport connectivity than cities or built up areas, and 66 per cent believe that the government should increase infrastructure investment in rural areas.

This news arrives after cuts to high-street banks and the removal of ATMs have left over 100 rural areas in the UK with no options for cash withdrawal. The RFCL survey even found that almost one in every six respondent has had to travel more than one mile in search of a working ATM or cash machine.

]]> Bank branch closures accelerate with 399 confirmed already in 2015 https://hinterland.org.uk/bank-branch-closures-accelerate-with-399-confirmed-already-in-2015/ Wed, 10 Jun 2015 16:25:07 +0000 http://www.hinterland.org.uk/?p=3328 This article tells us: Bank branches across the country are increasingly closing their doors to customers, leaving communities reliant on Post Offices and banks located miles from where they live. The Campaign for Community Banking Services (CCBS), a lobby group, said that the number of bank branch closures this year would “greatly exceed” 2014 levels, which saw 479 closures. This year, 399 bank closures have so far been announced, excluding HSBC’s planned closures, and with another six months left of the year the figure is likely to climb. Derek French, director at CCBS, said that more than 1,380 communities were now without a bank branch. “Voluntary pledges by three of the ‘Big Four’ banks (RBS, Lloyds and Barclays) to keep open the ‘last bank in town’ protected 70pc of sole bank communities more than one mile from an alternative bank, but the banks all cancelled their pledges last year”. I wonder if these ongoing closure programmes will reignite a debate for community banking to be trialled in areas where business for the main banks is not booming?

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