When Did You Last Step Foot into the Bank or Building Society in Person?
Ask a Question
I was reading today that Barclays had announced another 2 branch closures and it made me think about who me and my family use . When we 1st joined it was open 6 days a week open for 7 hours on those days and there would be 3 members on the counter , numerous seating areas for members of staff and the public to chat .
Jump forward to Covid times and the bank is now open 4 days a week , for 5 hours 1 member of staff on the counter ,1 customer service area and a telephone service if you need to speak to telephone banking .
Me and my family use the bank 2 or 3 times a week and really push the boat out and sometimes pay for things with a paper item called cash .
Don't get me wrong the times are changing but 1 thing as a customer we don't like being forced to change if we prefer different ways of managing our finances .
When our bank announced the reduced days and hours it really did make me laugh that they said we have put it out to consultation and our customers said they wanted this . As I said 2-3 days a week going in there was no advertisement of this consultation , no mention of any staff , no texts, no emails and no letters through the post . When asking the staff about this mysterious consultation the response 100% of the time is a laugh from the staff as they know as we know the consultation was done miles and miles away .I do use telephone banking and online banking but I want the choice of how to deal with my finances .
I guess my question and semi rant is do you use your branch for your bank or building society , do you feel your being forced to use online banking ?
I go in to my local Lloyds every other week as I would rather deal with a person than do it online
I often go into the branch. My bank reduced their opening hours during Covid, and still haven't gone back to the original opening hours. It can be a pain because they close so early, but I'd still rather go into the branch for some things.
During Covid, the banks were only letting a couple of people in at a time, and every bank in my area had a massive queue outside, every day during the week. I know a lot of people use online banking these days, but plenty of people still want or need to use an actual branch for their banking.
Banks don't seem to want customers in branch anymore my local HSBC has done away with the counters ( many years ago 7 manned counters ) just self service machines now and a member of staff stood by the door with a computer. . If you want to pay in coins or anything involving coins you have to go to the Post office.
I go to the bank for work every week but for myself i never seem to go, there isn't reason for me to go as i can do everything online. Has Covid not just accelerated something that is going to happen with less and less branches and more online?
online is so much easier for me, there are still things you have to go into a bank for but for me its all online and get cash out of the machine, easier than dealing with rude people.
I think I went into the Halifax about 3 years ago. I had a cheque sent to me but can't remember why but remember going in and it seemed a novelty going back then to be in a bank. I see lots of people going in and out of banks though where I live but not much use for them myself.
I think I have been into my bank 4 times in the last two years - only ever to pay in cheques. When i did go in I always used the cashier service rather than the bank of machines - but Id much rather do the whole thing online.
Geeze think it was to sort out a transfer of the. Child’s trust fund for my daughter
V early 2019
I think it was about 3 years ago, I had a cheque to pay in. I normally do my banking online.
I pop in my bank at least once a month pay bills like yourself I like the old fashioned cash. With the staff tell I you use self service etc they not realising the more people do it this way there be no need for them
I am with Halifax and my husband with santander, but we both do most of our banking at our local post office (part of a small petrol station), as they take lodgements, etc for both of our banks. It is actually much handier for us, as we live in a rural area and our nearest bank branch is 13 miles away!
I last went into Branch in August. I needed to set up a standing order and wanted to make sure it was done properly. Our bank is open 6 days a week and there are only 2 counters anyway but both are manned.
My husband tends to deal with all the online banking but I do go into Branch when needed.
Obviously during lockdown I did not enter a bank and finally decided to do my banking online. Since they re-opened I have had no reason to go in. It is a shame.
Any banking I need to do can be done in my local Post Office.
Just as well really since my town no longer has a bank or building society.
I do all my banking online and have done for years now, in fact most of my family do their banking online.
Join for free to get genuine deals, money saving advice and help from our friendly community
Chief Bargain Hunter