Calls for banking hub in Harborough following three branch closures in a year

Calls have been made to open a ‘banking hub’ in Market Harborough, after the town was hit with three bank closures this year.

NatWest, HSBC and Barclays have all decided to shut their local branches in the town in the past six months, blaming the rise of online banking.

The town’s HSBC branch shut up shop on Tuesday May 30, one of 114 closures across the country with the bank saying more than nine out of ten banking transactions are now done online and some branches have less than 250 customers through the door each week. But it revealed 36 per cent of Harborough users relied on in-branch services.

The NatWest branch closed in January, as ‘face-to-face transactions had fallen by 64 per cent in the past three years’, according to the company, and Barclays is set to close its local branch in July.

They are among multiple branch closures which have taken place across the country in recent years, while research by the charity Age UK has indicated three in four account holders aged 65 and over want to ‘carry out at least one transaction in a branch’. The charity has called for an increased number of ‘shared banking hubs’ as its research has shown nearly half of over-65s with a bank account ‘do not manage their money online’.

Banking hubs are shared banking spaces, similar to a traditional bank branch but are open to all bank customers. Each hub provides basic banking services, including over-the-counter services which are operated by the Post Office. Customers of any bank are able to withdraw and deposit cash, make bill payments and carry out regular transactions.

The call has been backed by the leader of Harborough District Council, Liberal Democrat Phil Knowles. He said: “There is a need for these banking hubs. While many residents will use online banking, at some time there is a need to sit down face to face and I think we need to have a look at that now. We need to see what we can do to assist in facilitating that and perhaps that will lead us to the provision of a bank hub and I think as a local authority, we need to look at what we can do to assist.”

Following the news of the Barclays closure in Market Harborough, a spokesperson for the major banking company previously said: “Back when we opened this branch, visiting us in person was one of the only ways to do your banking. Now, there are lots of ways to manage your money without even leaving your home.

“We’re seeing many customers choosing to bank using our app, and online or telephone banking. This has had a big impact on the number of customers coming in to see us.” The company also revealed that the town’s branch only had “22 regular customers” and since 2021, 91 per cent of people who used the branch also used the banking app or banked online or by phone.