Very welcome return of local bank service

The financial service crisis of 2008 may seem rather distant, but the ripple effect from it continues to impact on our lives. One consequence was a greater focus on reform within the sector and, in tandem with advances in digital technology, it stemmed a push by the major banks to review their services.

First in the queue for streamlining was branch networks, which were viewed as costly and inefficient.

Branches’ footfall had steadily dropped since smartphones made banking-on-the-go safe, secure and simple.

Branch closures ostracised large parts of the population

High streets began to change as major brands embraced the digital world and upped and left their former outlets by the dozen.

But while the strategy may have helped the bottom line of an industry in crisis, it also had wider, negative consequences for society.

In reality the branch closures ostracised large parts of the population who either did not have access to digital banking or the skills to use it, or did not have the same confidence in completing a financial transaction online as they did standing at a bank counter talking to a teller.

For some small businesses, especially in rural areas, easy access to cash for the purposes of a till float or the opportunity to deposit the day’s takings were lost at the stroke of a bank manager’s pen.

It is welcome therefore that a new movement to reverse some of the damage caused is gaining traction.

Carnoustie, which lost three bank branches in three years, is to be home to a banking hub from 2022.

A new venture between the major banks, consumer groups, Link and the Post Office will mean some of what has been lost will return in a new bricks and mortar space.

It is a strategy designed around customer need, a central pillar of banking which should never have been lost in the first place.

We look forward to the hub opening its doors.