Bank branch closures make a mockery of customer service

When it comes to bank branch closures, there are two schools of thought. One side isn’t bothered, pointing to the ubiquity of online banking and celebrating the fact that technology has, in their opinion, made bank branches obsolete.

The other side – of which I’m a part – laments the loss of local bank branches, not just for the impact on small businesses and individual customers who rely on them but also the devastating effect on the community. I’m with Spectator Money‘s Jeff Prestridge who wrote last year that ‘our communities are being dismantled bit by bit and the big bad banks are playing a large part’. He added: ‘The assault on the bank branch network is now ferocious. Post-2008 financial crisis, our (partly) State-owned banks can get away with literally anything on the cost cutting front if it ultimately restores their businesses to good health and delivers shareholders the dividends they crave (and government a profitable exit strategy).’