JEFF PRESTRIDGE: NatWest leaves tourist hotspot without a single bank branch
A friend Chris recently spent a few days in the Lake District – I'm going up there myself for some walking and wild-swimming in a month's time and I can't wait.
When he emailed to tell me how his trip had gone, he attached some pictures. Not of glorious mountains or stunning tarns, but of two bank premises – one rather pristine and the other long shut.
I wasn't surprised. Chris knows all about my borderline fetish for bank branches, especially those housed (or previously housed) in magnificent buildings as befitting their once proud role as pillars of communities.
'Saw this strange sight on my trip,' he explained. 'It looked like an open branch of NatWest in a busy town but I might have been hallucinating.'
Tongue in cheek, he added: 'I better not say where it is in case the head office hitmen realise it's still open and shut it.'
Chris went on to say: 'The other building in the same town looked like an old bank but it was 'to let'. The nearby bus stop was called 'Barclays', which might have been a clue as its previous occupant.'
Well, I knew straight away the location of the NatWest branch because I've run and walked past it countless times while staying in nearby Ambleside over the years. It's located at the top of Windermere, not far from the railway station I disembark at when visiting the Lakes.
As for the 'to let' property, Chris was right – it was a Barclays branch until 2022, when it shut.
Yet sadly, Chris seems to have been hallucinating after all – because NatWest had closed the Windermere branch a couple of weeks before his holiday. It leaves the town, a popular tourist hotspot, without one single bank (the nearest ones are now seven miles away in Kendal – a tortuous journey at the best of times).
Before Barclays complains, I dismiss its 'local' service which operates out of the town's library once a week and opens for five hours. Given cash and cheque transactions are not catered for, I'm not sure what banking purpose it serves. It's nigh on superfluous – banking window-dressing.
You would have thought that bankless Windermere would now be ripe for a banking hub: a community bank which customers of all the big banking brands can use. Unlike Barclays' 'locals', hubs are cash-friendly, provide basic banking services and are key for small businesses (retailers especially) wishing to deposit cash.
Yet the town hasn't passed muster. A hub can be set up only if cash machine network Link, acting on behalf of the big banks that fund them, thinks it is necessary. And according to its assessment of the town's banking services, Windermere can survive without one.
The local population, Link says, has access to banking services via two post offices – and access to cash via three ATMs. It's a baffling decision which I can't quite get my head around. Whatever season it has been when I've visited, the town has always been bustling.
And I'm not the only one left baffled. Tim Farron, Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, is appalled that, outside of Kendal, there are now no bank branches in his constituency – and no replacement hubs in towns abandoned by the banks – the likes of Ambleside, Coniston and now Windermere.
Earlier this year, after the NatWest closure in Windermere was announced, he said: 'We desperately need banking hubs so locals, especially elderly and vulnerable people, have access to face-to-face banking services.'
Last Thursday, MPs raised similar concerns in a backbench debate in the House of Commons on banking hubs and branch closures.
Ian Lavery, Labour MP for Blyth and Ashington, led the way. He is frustrated that a community request to get a hub in Bedlington, Northumberland, was recently knocked down by Link. Other MPs referred to bankless towns in their constituencies where hubs had not been approved.
Link says the rollout of 160 hubs has resulted in 1.6 million people having local access to banking services (within three miles) that otherwise would not be available.
Adrian Roberts, Link deputy chief executive, told me: 'Cash is proving key in the event of system failures and cyber attacks. That's why we need a resilient national cash access network that serves everyone, and why we have a key role in recommending new services including ATMs and banking hubs. We've recommended 226 hubs to date and expect many more.'
Labour wants 350 up and running before 2029. Behind the scenes, there is a fierce debate going on about hubs. Some say they should not be introduced into towns where they would undermine the role of the Post Office in providing local banking services – in effect, hubs run by the Post Office – as that would cannibalise the existing businesses of sub-postmasters.
Others warn that if Link was pushed into taking a more relaxed approach to approving hubs, some could subsequently close as a result of a lack of local demand for their services. Something that would be hugely embarrassing for Link and for Labour.
However, some believe hubs are too restricted in what services they can provide – and that the rules should now be eased to broaden their appeal. Unless this happens, they say many hubs will struggle to survive.
The road ahead for banking hubs will not be without its twists and turns, that's for sure. But the fact remains: Windermere still needs a banking hub.
Sink or swim for Reeves' cash Isas plan
Cash Isas are more popular than ever. The latest Bank of England figures show £14 billion was deposited inside these mini tax havens in April – that is the largest monthly amount since the 'Old Lady' started collating data on them in 1999.
The fact they are all the rage is not because of juicy interest rates – these have been heading down this year.
It is primarily a result of Rachel from Accounts, our splendid Chancellor (tongue firmly in cheek), wanting to clip their wings. The result is a mad scramble for cash Isas while stocks last.
In recent months, Ms Reeves has let it be known that she wants to reduce the annual maximum that can be deposited inside a cash Isa from £20,000 to £4,000. In future, only investors, she has hinted, will be able to use the full £20,000 annual allowance.
All part of her broader mission to help boost the UK stock market and raise capital for British businesses and massive infrastructure projects. But nearly everyone I have spoken to on this Isa makeover believes it's a nutty idea, impacting on the prudent, young and old. It's why we launched our 'Hands Off Our Cash Isas' campaign.
Let's hope Rachel from Accounts sees sense. If she does, I vow to go up to Loughrigg Tarn in the Lake District and, irrespective of water temperature, swim 20 (not 20,000) victory lengths.
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