- Author, Johanna Carr
- Role, BBC News, South West
A new shared banking hub has opened in Saltash as the last bank branch in the Cornish town prepares to close its doors for the final time.
Lloyds Bank on Fore Street will close for good later, following on from the closures of other high street banks there, including Barclays and Nat West.
The Banking Hub, which was officially opened on Monday, allows customers of most major banks and building societies to carry out regular cash transactions.
Saltash mayor Councillor Julia Peggs said everybody would be “sad to see Lloyds go” but added the hub was a “fantastic facility”.
Mrs Peggs said: “We all know that face-to-face banking and being able to speak to somebody is really important, and especially for the businesses as well to be able to do their banking, so everybody’s really excited.”
She said all of the councillors had been getting emails and calls from residents concerned about the closure of Lloyds.
A Lloyds spokesperson said: “As many customers now choose to bank online or through their mobile app, visits to our Saltash branch have fallen over recent years.”
The bank said customers could still use its services online, on the phone, in branch in Plymouth, or either the local Post Office or Banking Hub.
Customer Sue Wayne said she was “going to miss Lloyds very much”, adding the closure of branches concerned her.
“It’s affecting cash, I think we’re going to become a cashless society far too quickly,” she said.
She said she was aware of the new Banking Hub on Lower Fore Street, which she said “seemed to be in the wrong place for shoppers but at least we’ve got something” and added she planned to use it in the future.
Christine West, who used to bank at Barclays in the town before it closed in 2018, said the hub would “make life so much easier for everybody”.
Banks and building societies have closed 6,005 branches since January 2015, at a rate of around 53 each month, consumer group Which? said.
Carmen Hanif, from the Devon Federation of Small Businesses, said its research showed 40% of banks and building societies closed their doors between 2012 and 2022.
But she said at the same time a quarter of high street businesses said cash was still their preferred payment method.
Ms Hanif said: “Banking Hubs are fantastic, they’re a great option where there are no banks and building societies still available, but longer term what we really want to be doing is stopping the current banks and building societies from closing their doors … healthy economies are built on being able to process payments and cash is still a massive part of healthy economies.”
The are currently two other banking hubs in Cornwall, in Looe and Helston, with a fourth planned for Bodmin.
In Devon, there are hubs in Teignmouth, Dawlish, Axminster and Brixham with more planned for Dawlish and Dartmouth.
Simon Boyd, who manages the Looe and Saltash hubs for the Post Office, which operates them in partnership with major banks, said they were “designed for the community”.
“So the amount of support we get back from the community is vital for future growth but also to tell the banks how much we want them still in our towns, albeit in a slightly different format,” he said.
