Banks - when are they going to fully reopen?

[Mumratheevergiving]

It was understandable that banks reduced their opening hours in the height of the crisis but the branches local to me are still offering reduced hrs - opening 10-3 and no Saturday mornings. Can anyone explain why they have not reopened to their original hrs? I can only think they are cutting their costs (possibly thinking down the line they will close more branches?) but its frustrating to lose the opportunity to do Saturday banking and have them closed outside of core working hrs.

@Mrsjayy

My friend works in a bank she is still furloughed maybe it's that ?.I guess they will get back to normal when they can

Why on earth is the taxpayer still paying for bank staff to be furloughed!?

@roses2

Out of interest - what do people need to go to branch for? How often do you need to pay in cash or cheques?

On my local high street every bank seems to have a huge queue all day every day and I've never figured out what people are doing that they can't do online other than paying in cash and cheques!

The Nationwide always has a huge queue but DM used to go in there at least once a week to move money from one account to another or to get a printed cheque to pay for something, I saw DF recently, they were separated, and found that he did the same.

@delilahbucket

My dp works for a bank. They are open 10-4 mon-fri and 10-2 Saturdays. There are a lot of staff working from home due to shielding, and in order for the bank to be able to allow them to do that, and still operate safely with minimum staff requirements, they are remaining on the shorter hours. Also with base rate as low as it is and the payment holidays, they are not making as much money and are trying to keep costs down without many redundancies.

The Govt advice is 'If you’re clinically extremely vulnerable you were advised to take extra precautions during the peak of the pandemic in England. This is known as ‘shielding’. The government is advising that you do not need to shield at the moment. This is because the rates of transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the community have fallen significantly.'

www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19

I suspected they may have furloughed some staff to save money, wrong use of furlough imo

I have no idea why she is furloughed I didn't really question it

@DoneAdulting

We've all had to change the way we do things, 'old fashioned' people should be adopting new ways of banking too. Pay your bills by direct debit, and pay with card instead of cash!

Sometimes you need to consider that not everyone is in the same circumstances as you.

Business banking (95% done online) but some still needs to be done in branch.

Paying in childrens cheques from older relatives. Relatives in 60's and 70's are using online banking, some older than that have just not got to grips with technology. Some older people don't have relatives to help them out either.

Check if you can pay in a cheque with a photo from your phone - barclays does that!

What business banking needs to be done in branch that can't be done at the post office? Change and paying in can both be done at the PO. Also, there would be no need for change or paying in cash if people used card instead.

Cheques can be paid in via the banking app for two of my own banks, probably more banks offer this service too.

The banks are doing it on purpose. They've been trying for years to reduce their physical locations and they are using COVID as an excuse to force more people online. The more tired and bored of the queues people get, the more likely they are to finally adjust to using online banking.

I do have some symapahy for banks. Real life stores are very expensive. Not just the high rents that are required like all high street stores, but they all need additional security, technology etc. When the vast bulk of what people come in for could be handled by phone or online, it is frustrating.

I have no idea why she is furloughed I didn't really question it

Actually might be WFH and not on furlough my mistake

I’m a branch manager in a bank. The reason we are on reduced hours is, a lot of support staff are working from home or furloughed which is driving an unmanageable footfall into the branch, adding to this, even during lockdown a lot of non essential business takes place every day ie people coming in daily for a statement they could get at an external cash machine.
Our bank is also mindful of the school situation and limited childcare this summer holiday.
We can’t do account opening etc yet anyway as we only have the counter positions to be able to serve customers which isn’t appropriate for asking people all their personal details for 30/45 mins.
I’m not sure we will ever return to opening on a Saturday as so many people now use the post office for paying in however people do need to know the alternative options, we had to close at very short notice due to a confirmed case from a staff member - so many customers were stuck without knowing they could go so we make sure we are promoting this now we have re opened.

Lots of staff are also supporting the bounce bank loans scheme which seems to have had 10x the uptake predicted which is really hitting our staff, both for processing and for people constantly coming in for updates or with IDVA/ questions etc

@YinuCeatleAyru
There was a discussion on this here a couple of weeks ago, and it turns out that NatWest are still opening accounts for 11 year olds. We applied online for DD1 then went in to our local branch to do the identity check bit. She's already got her new card and PIN so it was very efficient.

The majority of customers now predominantly use online banking (including mobile apps) so there aren’t that many customers needing to visit a bank.

In fact, a significant amount of bank visitors could carry out their queries online or via the app, eg most high street banks allow you to pay in cheques via the app or open new accounts/apply for products online.

Therefore banking branch services are reduced as the demand, on the whole, just isn’t there. The odd few customers that do want to bank in branch are in the minority so it isn’t currently a necessity to open for longer

@DoneAdulting

What business banking needs to be done in branch that can't be done at the post office? Change and paying in can both be done at the PO. Also, there would be no need for change or paying in cash if people used card instead.

Cheques can be paid in via the banking app for two of my own banks, probably more banks offer this service too.

The queue at our post office was horrendous pre-Covid. It's even worse with the increase in returns from online shopping plus the additional people doing banking there as their banks are closed or open short hours.

Asked NatWest about ability to scan cheques for business account and reply from relationship director was:
COVID-19 and reduced branch opening have affected some customers' ability to pay-in cheques. Our commitment to provide access to banking for customers across the UK remains vital which is why we are introducing the ability to post cheques.

Our postal service is also terrible at the moment so not a good option either.

We are out of lockdown (and even where local lockdown's are in place businesses are still allowed to operate) is it unreasonable to expect banks to resume their normal hours and, as a profitable business, to provide their own customer service? A lot of elderly or vulnerable people rely on local services.

If they keep the branches shut then isn't that going to result in more local redundancies?

I wasn’t aware that banks had furloughed any staff. Are you sure your friend isn’t shielding?

Cash usage has dropped dramatically during Covid and cheques are next to obsolete. Many banks have a system where you can take an image of the cheque via an app and pay it in that way rather than needing to visit a branch (that said, I can’t remember the last time I had a cheque to pay in, my dear old gran was the only one who used to send them and she passed away 3 years ago)

Have just checked and my car insurance isn’t on my credit file. The only ‘bill’ that is is my mobile phone, I’m guessing that’s because the handset element is a quasi loan

Sorry wrong thread!

We’re out of lockdown but the risk of coronavirus hasn’t completely dissipated.

NatWest is just behind with the times frankly, as other banks have offered cheque pay ins via mobile banking for years (for both current accounts and business accounts). If you have an account with another bank that offers this, perhaps you could use their app to pay in the cheque then immediately transfer the balance to your NatWest account. Or even consider switching banks.

Ok, so doesn't sound like Natwest are going to introduce cheque imaging via the app any time soon. Would you consider putting your cheques and paying in slip in an envelope and simply posting it through the branch letterbox when they're closed? That way they will process it the next time they are in, and you don't have to queue anywhere. I work in a bank and we have a lovely full letterbox every Monday morning

The trouble with bank branches being open for the minority of people who need to use them, is that they don't make any money from it. In fact it costs the bank to process cheques and pay your bill, not to mention the massive cost of cash handling. They are a business who need to make money just like every other business. The most recent CMA scores rank Monzo, Starling, and First Direct as the best banks in the UK, and they don't even have branches!

I've got a friend who works in the local branch of my bank, he is still on furlough. Lots of essential businesses still haven't reopened, my local council housing service have stated they won't be opening until October at the earliest. Have you looked to see if the Post Office do a child's account? They are open again.

I can do that DoneAuditing thanks. I didn't realise as I have always been able to access the branch previously.

I am finding it hard to see the distinction between post offices that are fully open and banks that aren't? Especially when the post office is providing banking services and people are being re-directed there for that purpose.

Taxpayers picking up the tab for furloughed bank workers while branches remain closed or on very limited opening hours seems very wrong to me!

DoneAdulting not auditing apologies, must have had finance on my mind

@Mrsjayy

I have no idea why she is furloughed I didn't really question it

Which bank..my DH works for lloyds they have not furlough ed any staff (as far as I know )

For people asking why people can’t do it online, my reason for needing to visiting banks is to pay cheques in and cash for my company both banks I use do not offer a online way to pay cheques in. As for going to the post office that isn’t a option either.

Also waiting to open another 2 bank accounts that need to be done in store as again can not be done online.