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Background: In the past decade, 6,300 banks and building
society branches have closed. This represents 64% of branches in
the UK as of the beginning of 2015.[1]
This trend is also mirrored by a decrease in the number of
free-to-use ATMs, which has fallen by more than 10,000 since
2016.
 
 Eltham High Street has seen the disappearance of most
of the major bank branches over the last few years. This trend
began with the closure of TSB in 2020, Barclays in February
2024, NatWest in August 2024, and the recent announcements that
Santander will close in June this year with Halifax following
shortly behind in October.
 This means that to access in person services, needed
by so many who are unable to bank digitally, Eltham residents would
have to travel 3.60 miles to the nearest TSB branch, 2.23 miles to
the nearest Barclays, and 2.8 miles to a Natwest. After the closure
of the Santander branch, residents will have to travel to Sidcup
– although this too will be closing this year - and those
wanting to bank in person with Halifax must go all the way to
Bromley Town Centre.
 
This Council notes with
concern:
The impact of these closures and access to cash has hit the
most vulnerable residents as well as small businesses in
Eltham.

In 2019, Financial Conduct Authority found that
branch closures presented challenges for older people who would
have to travel further to reach a branch. It said that older people
were also less likely to turn to mobile banking, which increased
their risk of financial exclusion.
In 2020 the Financial Conduct Authority
highlighted that small businesses are significant users of branches
and that a lack of access to branches can create problems for some
micro businesses. Around 20% of small businesses with a turnover
below £2 million use branches as their primary means of
banking.
In 2023 Age UK said that older or vulnerable
people often struggle with online banking with the charity's
research suggesting 27% of over-65s and 58% of over-85s rely on
face-to-face banking.
In 2023, Which? reported 52% of disabled people
surveyed said that branch closures had had a “negative
impact” on their access to bank services citing difficulties
with speaking to staff on the phone, using equipment like card
readers or remembering passwords.

 
 This Council recognises that:
·       
A banking hub is a
site that offers people physical access to banking services from a
range of providers. They are owned by Cash Access UK, a
not-for-profit company funded by nine major banks and operated by
the Post Office.
·       
The Post Office
provides the deposit, withdrawal and bill-paying services for
customers of the 30 or so providers involved in its Everyday
banking service. But in addition, hubs offer a “community
banker”, who represents the major banks in the area and
allows customers of individual members of Cash Access UK to meet
members of staff to discuss more complex banking matters. These
staff typically attend on a rotating basis, and the service is
usually staffed by the providers with most customers in the
area.
·       
That the local Labour
MP for Eltham and Chislehurst Clive Efford has called for the
criteria to be changed so that places like Eltham where all the
banks have closed can get a banking hub.
 
This Council calls upon:
1.   
LINK, the UK’s
cash machine network, to review the impact of past and proposed
branch closures in Eltham Town Centre with a view to whether a
banking hub can be established.
2.   
LINK, Access to Cash,
and the Post Office to meet with the Royal Borough of Greenwich to
scope potential locations and premises on or near Eltham High
Street for a banking hub.
3.   
That the Cabinet
member for Inclusive Economy, Business, Skills and Greenwich
Supports will write to LINK, Access to Cash, and the Post Office to
set up a meeting to discuss the establishment of a banking
hub.