Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Barclays Bank Closing
We have just got a letter telling us that Barclays Harringay is closing on 12/08/21.
This is the only bank in Harringay and always has queues to get in. There is obviously a need for it, why close it?
Time for a petition?
Louisa Spivack
(Note from Site Admin- See potted history by Hugh, below on page 2)
Tags for Forum Posts: barclays
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by kotkas on
-
Petition for what?
Barclays is a PLC, listed on the London Stock Exchange. They are entitled to close branches as they wish. If you want to have a say in their distribution strategy you can buy some shares and raise it at their next AGM.
-
Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
-
Perhaps they can be reminded of this commitment they made in 2019
https://home.barclays/news/press-releases/2019/10/barclays-halts--l...
-
-
I think they are - 'Last in Town' I think is meant to be just this, and since there are still many London branches open that promise holds true. By the latest reckoning there were ~9000 bank branches (across all brands) in London which is ~6 branches per square kilometer. Barclays has ~20% market share so you have at least 1 Barclays branch per sq kilometer. Of course not all evenly distributed etc.
-
-
If the town in question is London I don’t think that having a single branch satisfies their commitment. The nearest will be a mile away in Crouch End. As there will be no more banks on Grand Parade I think that qualifies as last in town. As Louise says the only remaining cash-in facility will be the post office which can’t cope with the number of customers as it is
-
-
As I mentioned London is pretty well served, with the highest branch density population wise when compared to the UK.
You will also see a ~30% decline as well since 2012, meaning that there's 70% of capacity still left in the system which I find astonishing, given that I (and the 95% of the UK population with an internet connection) can do 90% of what a branch can offer online - often with a lot less friction.
Bank branch and ATM statistics - House of Commons Library (parliame...
-
Permalink Reply by John D on
-
They promised not to close branches for 2 years. August 2021 is pretty much 2 years since the commitment.
-
Permalink Reply by Devon Williams on
-
That's a red herring. The statement obviously refers to rural and remote communities and to towns.
Harringay is not a town. It is part of a city where there are umpteen other banks within a short journey. Barclays nor any other business has any obligation to provide services here especially if the branch is not sufficiently profitable. And the sort of services that particular branch provides are unlikely to be profitable.
-
-
I think I've only ever been in there twice. Both times the staff just gave me a telephone and some numbers to ring which I could have done from home. They aren't adding much value so can see why the bank have decided to close.
-
-
I see. Because it wasn’t useful to you personally it’s worthless
-
-
Yep. I'm fairly typical of the local demographics and don't need any of the services they provide. There's always going to be a little old man who doesn't use the internet or whose family doesn't help them with banking but you can't expect a branch to stay open to service a niche need like that. As Kostas implied, it's not a government service.
-
-
There are queues outside all day when it is open so many people do find it a very useful service, especially local businesses who of course cannot put cash into a computer.
-
Permalink Reply by Hugh on
-
A very rapid Google search gives some context (the choice of publication is just down to the ones that came up first in search results and looked relevant).
Mobile banking will overtake the use of high street branches by 2021 — driven by older generations, according to experts.
Data crunchers Caci said growing numbers of smartphone owners are also partly behind the increase.
App banking is set to draw level with people visiting branches at 59 per cent by 2021.
Mobile banking's growth is being fuelled by the increasing adoption of technology by wealthier older families and those nearing retirement.
The proportion of customers using app banking is expected to continue to rise over the coming years, reaching 71% by 2024.
Meanwhile, the proportion of branch users will steadily decline to 55% by that year, according to the predictions.
Caci said that rather than mobile banking app users giving up using bank branches, the technology is supplementing branch use rather than replacing it.
It said the decline of branch visitors is modest - and even in five years' time, more than half of customers will still be visiting branches.
The Growth of Digital Banking 2019 report also said that peer-to-peer lending is attracting new audiences to the savings market.
But UK Finance warned: “Technology is not for everyone — maintaining access to cash is vital.”
Some branches are costing banks as much as £118,000 a year for every customer who uses them regularly. The shift to online banking has left hundreds of branches in the UK serving an average of 65 loyal customers who rely exclusively on its services.
In some cases they have as few as five customers who rely on the branch, such as Barclays in Birmingham Edgbaston, or nine, at the Barclays in Eton, Berkshire.
Figures from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the City regulator, show that on average bank branches cost banks £590,000 a year to run. While the costs of running different locations will vary, based on the national average a bank with only eight loyal customers effectively costs £73,750 per customer to run; Barclays Edgbaston would cost £118,000 for each of its five loyal users.
Times Money has analysed the impact assessment reports published by Santander, Barclays, HSBC and TSB, which have all announced branch closures for this year. Banks are obliged to publish these reports when they want to shut a branch. They outline how customers use it, the closest other branches and Post Offices, and how near it is to a cash machine.
They also identify the number of customers who rely on that branch exclusively. Each bank uses slightly different criteria, but in general these are people who use only that branch and do not use online or mobile banking.
Mobile banking's growth is being fuelled by the increasing adoption of technology by wealthier older families and those nearing retirement.
The proportion of customers using app banking is expected to continue to rise over the coming years, reaching 71% by 2024.
Meanwhile, the proportion of branch users will steadily decline to 55% by that year, according to the predictions.
Caci said that rather than mobile banking app users giving up using bank branches, the technology is supplementing branch use rather than replacing it.
It said the decline of branch visitors is modest - and even in five years' time, more than half of customers will still be visiting branches.
The Growth of Digital Banking 2019 report also said that peer-to-peer lending is attracting new audiences to the savings market.
But UK Finance warned: “Technology is not for everyone — maintaining access to cash is vital.”
Of the 217 bank branches earmarked for closure by Santander and Barclays this year, on average only 65 people use them exclusively, which would cost the banks about £9,077 per customer. TSB said some of its branches had just 20 customers using them regularly.
Banks’ profit margins have narrowed in the financial crisis as some of their traditional income streams, such as fees from overseas card transactions and withdrawals from cash machines, have dried up. They have been forced to write off huge losses on debts and their profits have been further squeezed by the legacy of low interest rates.
The pandemic has accelerated the trend towards digital banking, as the closure of branches last year during the first lockdown forced millions of people online for the first time. This has led to many customers never returning to bank branches, and the closure of those that have become unprofitable.
According to the banks’ impact assessments, the closure of 111 branches by Santander will affect 7,190 customers who rely on them, while with the 106 selected by Barclays, 6,947 customers will be hit. However, within these figures are branches that are relied on by only a handful of customers.
Only ten customers exclusively used Barclays’ branch in West Hampstead, north London, which closed last month. Eight people were reliant on the Bristol Clifton branch and nine exclusively used its Eton site.
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
