I never carry cash with me and most of the time I don’t even leave my house with my debit card- opting to use Apple Pay wherever possible.
So, when bank branches started to vanish from my high street – and those across the country – it didn’t really bother me. It’s like the saying goes: “Out of sight, out of mind”.
But I didn’t quite realise the extent of the closures. Banks and building societies have closed 6,872 branches since January 2015, according to Which?.
Had you told me this a month ago, I wouldn’t have appreciated why this number is worrying but following a recent experience I now see how much of a problem it is.
My partner and I recently bought our first home and this summer we decided to have our entire garden redone. It cost us a pretty penny but a sum I presumed I would simply pay via bank transfer. Oh how wrong I was.
When the project came to an end, my landscaper asked: “Have you sorted the cash?” – my blank stare clearly told him I did not. The most I probably had knocking around my house was £3, which was a few thousand short of what I needed to pay.
‘A task I initially thought to be simple, turned into a massive headache and took more time to sort out than it needed to’ (Teri Pengilley/The i Paper)Obviously, many tradespeople will accept bank transfers but others still prefer to be paid in cash. That is perfectly legal as long as they declare any cash received and pay VAT. It is also useful for the customer to keep records such as a written receipt or invoice.
My initial thought was, “It’s fine, I can just go to the bank and withdraw it”. But, there is no physical bank in my vicinity I could go to.
My local high street used to have 4 banks, now it only has one – and not the one I bank with.
The closest branch to me was a 25-minute drive away and closed at 4:30pm on a weekday and 1pm on a Saturday – which meant getting there was looking increasingly difficult.
It was at this point I realised I had been ignorant to this growing problem and how important it is to be able to have access to a physical bank.
There was no way I was going to be able to get to the bank in time before it closed, which left me in a predicament.
My partner and I had to enlist the help of my father-in-law, who lived the closest to said open bank branch. After transferring him the money online, he went in, withdrew the funds for us and dropped it off to us that evening.
A task I initially thought to be simple, turned into a massive headache and took more time to sort out than it needed to.
Bank branches are a bedrock of our high streets and are so important in providing us with financial autonomy.
Instead, it now seems easier to get into debt by taking out loans online than it is to just get cash out.
This is one of the negative sides of technological advancements, as is the countless numbers of people losing their jobs because of it.
In an Uber last week, my driver recounted to me how he used to be a branch manager at Barclays but lost his job after it closed.
He said: “Technology took my job and it is now going to do it again, with these new driverless cars.”
Banking hubs – where multiple providers can work out of one space – have been offered as the solution to this problem, but it doesn’t seem like the roll out of them is keeping up with the rate of closures.
According to Which?, there are now 240 community hubs in the UK but there are many constituencies with no banking branches or hubs open.
The situation has made me realise that having access to cash and banking services is paramount to allow people to have control of their money better.
At a time when financial literacy is lagging, it is so important we don’t alienate people from their finances.
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