Banking hubs expected to replace closed branches

Cash Access UK has said lenders will open hundreds of banking hubs over the next few years as the programme accelerates. 

Cash Access UK Chief Executive Officer Gareth Oakley says that the not-for-profit company has 38 hubs in the pipeline and is preparing to open its fifth and sixth hubs in London and Scotland.

The hubs are designed to provide basic banking services for communities that have lost bank and building society branches and lenders are under pressure from forthcoming legislation and the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure the public has access to cash services.

Oakley said “If banks were to continue closing branches at the current rate I would expect there to be several hundred banking hubs and maybe as many deposit solutions.” Martin McTague, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said the hubs were a positive development. “Over eight in ten small businesses say that bank branches are important to the health of their high street and over a third report that footfall dropped following branch closures.”