Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) has made a unanimous call for banking hubs to be created in three towns now left without a bank.
SNP council leader Grant Laing will write to Cash Access UK and Link requesting their support to create banking hubs in Aberfeldy, Auchterarder and Kinross.
At a meeting of the full council on Wednesday, councillors unanimously supported an SNP motion calling for bank hubs to help their town centres “survive and thrive”.
Strathearn councillor Stewart Donaldson tabled the motion after the three towns went from having several banks to none.
He told councillors it was a matter of “social justice” for residents who cannot do online banking.
His motion also acknowledged “the closure of the Bank of Scotland in Crieff next year could have led to a similar outcome” but said he “welcomes the promise to establish a banking hub there by summer 2024”.
As well as asking council leader Grant Laing to write to Cash Access UK and Link to support applications for banking hubs in the three towns, the motion called on council officers to help Cash Access UK and Link find premises in any of the three towns that are successful in getting a banking hub.
53% of banks closed in past eight years
A report from the UK Government’s Scottish Affairs Committee on Access to Cash in Scotland said that “since 2015, 53 per cent of Scotland’s bank branches have closed”.
Where once there used to be four banks in Kinross and an additional bank in Milnathort we now have none
Seconding, Cllr Richard Watters said: “Within Kinross-shire we have seen first-hand the results of this when in 2020 the Lloyds/Bank of Scotland group announced the closure of the last bank in the area.
“Where once there used to be four banks in Kinross and an additional bank in Milnathort we now have none.”
He told councillors Kinross “failed at the first hurdle” to meet criteria for a banking hub due to geography.
The SNP councillor said this was partly due to the requirement of 4,000 people residing within a 1km radius of the centre.
Cllr Watters explained Kinross was spread out north and south of the centre due to “being hemmed in with a loch to the east and a motorway to the west”.
The second reason was the amount of businesses accepting cash within the 1km radius area which he will challenge.
Banking hubs idea welcomed
Strathallan councillor Steven Carr said Auchterarder businesses welcomed the idea of a banking hub and it would make a big difference to residents without a car.
Cllr Carr said: “Having discussed the idea of a banking hub with many businesses in Auchterarder, that are part of a vibrant High Street, this is a project that was welcomed with open arms within the town.”
