Jane Dodds has asked the Welsh Government what it is doing to retain banking facilities in local towns.
The Mid and West Wales MS said at the Senedd that while many people have moved to internet banking, there are others who still value having a physical bank in their town.
Video from Senedd.tv
The Mid and West Wales MS said at the Senedd that while many people have moved to internet banking, there are others who still value having a physical bank in their town.
Video from Senedd.tv
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00:00buildings in the middle of our town centres.
00:02Jane Dodds.
00:03Jane Dodds.
00:04Diolch yn fawr iawn.
00:05Whilst many of us have moved to internet banking as an option to do our banking, communities
00:11still value a physical bank in their town.
00:15Lloyds Bank posted profits in this quarter only of £1.3 billion, and yet they are abandoning
00:25the residents of Powys.
00:27As from March next year, there will be no Lloyds Bank left in Powys.
00:31They are moving out of Brecon, they have moved out of Ystradgynlais, one of the largest towns
00:37in Powys, and just abandoning residents, particularly older people and people who rely on cash such
00:44as our farmers.
00:45One of the success stories has been the Welshpool banking hub, which opened over a year ago.
00:51So, I'd like to ask the Welsh Government, what are you doing to promote banking hubs
00:56and community banks in order to ensure that our town centres remain lively, that people
01:01come to them who need the opportunity to bank in person, and to promote those opportunities
01:07to our residents?
01:08Diolch yn fawr iawn.
01:09Janet Finch-Saunders AM.
01:10Thanks very much.
01:11You're quite right, Jane.
01:12There's been a series of bank closures over a number of years now, and that is something
01:17that is of concern, obviously, in particular in those more rural areas.
01:22Older people struggle, as you say, but also small businessesóthere's a lot of small
01:26businesses that like to use those local facilities.
01:31But you're also right in pointing out that some of the banking hubs have been quite successful,
01:36and we would be encouraging more of those to be set up.
01:40The UK Government also has some ideas around this, and, obviously, we're having conversations
01:44with them about whether there's anything that they have that could perhaps be of interest
01:50to us in seeing if that's something that we could extend to Wales.