To think that banks these days are a disgrace and couldn’t care less about their customers?

So sad, worked in a bank last century. They had good jobs then and brought footfall to the town centre shops. Managers had a lot of discretion and could use common sense, now it’s computer says no and do it on line. My 91 year old mother was told to open an isa on line lol

@ViciousCurrentBun

It does worry me if systems go down whether it’s hacking or just a good old fashioned power cut.

You wouldn't be able to do anything IN a bank if their systems were down or there was a power cut either!

Even if you have a wad of cash under the bed, shops etc will be closed, so you'd be very limited as to how you could spend it. We lost all power for 2/3 days during Storm Desmond - our entire city and surrounding towns. Nothing at all was open, trains weren't stopping at the station, buses weren't running, etc. Petrol stations closed, shops closed. Having a bit of cash really didn't help!

It's not the banking systems that are the problem, it's the power grid that buggers up literally everything if it goes down.

I think the pace of change is about right to be honest. Online banking has been around since the early 2000s so everyone has had plenty of time to get to grips with it. It's not reasonable to expect to be able to have the same level of access to physical banking stuff as we had decades ago considering most stuff can be done online and we can ping money around electronically.

It's not wrong either, people would be quick enough to critisise bank running loss making models.

The last time I went into our local bank before it closed I was paying in money for a charity. (The machines only took notes not coins.) The elderly gentleman in front of me had gone in because he was worried a bank phone call was a scam. Turned out he was right and they whisked him into a private room. He hadn't fallen for it, choosing instead to go to the bank to verify he had to make a transfer, but where will he go now?

A PP said the bank kept saying get your daughter to do it online for you. Where is the privacy? This is also a serious issue with everything NHS going online.

Just registered a POA for my dad, we went into the branch (8 miles away as that’s our nearest now) and the staff member struggled to do it on their system. We could have done it ourselves apparently but if the staff are struggling what chance have we got? We were there 2.5 hours…I asked to use the toilet and there wasn’t one. Had to go to McDonald’s for that. If we’d taken my dad it would have been a nightmare. We said wouldn’t it be good if there was one place that the banks shared so people could go in and do their banking.

@LunaNorth we used to have a Barclays in my local town. In lockdown the que was 12 people deep. It closed, so the nearest actual branch is a 30 mile round trip. We have a banking hub one day a week but you can't get cash out etc. the journey is not good if you are disabled or elderly. Agree with you 100 per cent. Online banking is fine but i miss going to my local branch

They're not really there to care. They're there to make money, just like every other business (no longer) on the High St. Of course if they don't get the footfall to stay open, they'll close.

The problem is when there are any online issues your stuck .help lines end up advising go into branch but they are all shut.
Recently had to rush to x2 branches in different towns cos neither opened consecutive days to sort out transferring money to purchase house. While this was being sorted It really brought it home to me how many older people visited in person, and how valuable this service is .Most people had an issue so it wasn't just taking cash out .
Not a single bank remains in my home town we had 4 when I was young.
I know times change etc but I do feel we are losing something

I can't imagine going to a bank to do anything but the last time I did which was about two years ago it was jam packed full so from that I take that lots of people do go into a branch. I will add it was jam packed and there weren't enough staff. Wait times were really long. I think people who can't or won't use online banking for whatever reason are really being marginalised. Same thing with people who only use cash.

It does worry me if systems go down whether it’s hacking or just a good old fashioned power cut. In my town of around 37,000 people we have five banks and building societies still open, three others have shut since 2020. So I feel quite lucky.

I am fine with online stuff and can do some minor programming though they are not exactly current languages as were used in the 1990’s. So I’m writing I’m not young but not intimidated by tech. But I do not like the rise of everything online, it’s a bit dystopian and though MN is full of the shy, introverts, and the anti social who are all very different personality wise but welcome online interactions most people do like some level of sociability.

I agree OP

the most annoying thing is when I take mum to the remaining bank - don't know how long we'll have it- and the cashier tells her to get me to do it online. Only happened a couple of times.

there are so many people who can't do online banking for any number of reasons and I think it's really unfair to them.

many people will find they can do it now but not when they are old, for a range of reasons. It's very unfair. It should be challenged for equality reasons.

You can pay cheques in by post, no screen required. Cash points have been around for about fifty years.

I don't think banks are bastards (for this reason anyway!) they have to justify what they spend money on, and running expensive bank branches for a handful of people, half of whom only use the bank through stubbornness, it's not a good use of money.

It's probably harder for those people to book holidays without travel agent shops, doesn't mean they should stay open (and charge customers more to cover the cost).

We will all be screwed if goes down

I'm not saying you're wrong but the Internet has changed day-to-day banking out of all recognition.

Those who can't access it are screwed.