Re: Think local
As others have said, with ATMs, internet, telephone and postal banking, there really isn’t much (some, but not much) purpose in bank branches any more.
Bulk cash or coin deposits for businesses, customers with special needs, and that’s about it. But we already have a nationwide branch network which is similarly suffering as internet communications also replace much of its core business: the Post Office.
Post Offices should become multipurpose facilities: they already provide simple withdrawal and deposit services for many banks, they should do this for all banks. They could go further and have a couple of videoconference rooms to connect special needs customers to a remote member of bank staff in each bank’s back office as needed, with a specially trained member of Post Office staff in the room to provide reassurance and help for those who would find communicating without a real person physically present locally too difficult or confusing (I’m assuming that the local employee wouldn’t have the specialist knowledge to be able to answer all questions for all banks, so the remote employee of the actual bank would do the “knowledge” element of the work).
With the money saved, the banks would be able to offer us better savings rates and cheaper loan rates (rather than the directors just pocketing the savings, I hope).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
