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| 7 July 2005 |
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| TWO BANKS SLASH NETWORKS | |
| When will others follow? | |
| The announcement by the Clydesdale/Yorkshire banking group (NAB) that it is to close 100 branches, 22% of its network, has been received by the Campaign for Community Banking Services (CCBS) with a level of concern that goes beyond the immediate inconvenience, and damage to affected communities, that will result from the plan if it is fully implemented. When local bank branches close, particularly a last bank in the high street, the sustainability of other local services is put at risk as bank users go elsewhere to bank and spend elsewhere at the same time. CCBS has particular concerns for the 36 rural communities in Scotland where Clydesdale is the only bank; 4 of these are in the initial list of 14 Clydesdale closures to be released. The first phase (subsequent phases to be announced in August and October) also confirms our fears that inner-city and other deprived communities have been targeted by both banks for closure and in these areas financial exclusion will be exacerbated as a result. Beyond the communities to be directly affected by the Clydesdale and Yorkshire closures, is the signal that a closure programme on this scale gives to other UK banks that after a pause of several years wholesale closures can be back on the agenda using the same industry-wide justifications. In fact HSBC is currently engaged in a programme of closures in which rural Wales is hard hit. The announcement by Clydesdale/Yorkshire came soon after the
latest rejection by the banking industry (see CCBS Release 9 May
2005) of the shared branching proposition (see Reports section
of CCBS website) which in many cases would have provided a viable
alternative to closure. Clydesdale’s (not Yorkshire) arrangements
with post offices are unique to Clydesdale’s agenda and
are not seen as a precedent which other UK banks will follow (see
CCBS Release 8 March 2004). Contact |