England (Commonwealth Union)_ HSBC recently reported that it will close 114 additional branches in the UK starting in April due to a substantial decline in client traffic. The bank stated that it will make an effort to redistribute impacted employees, but approximately 100 positions would be lost.
As more individuals bank online and lenders decrease expenses, banks have shuttered tens of thousands of branches in recent years. A union charged that HSBC had abandoned its 327 surviving branches despite its claims that it would spend in upgrading them. “Access to cash and banking will be gone forever without any corporate social responsibility to force banks to stay on our high streets to support the elderly, crippled, or disadvantaged,” said Dominic Hook, national officer of Unite.
People were altering the way they banked, according to Jackie Uhi, managing director of HSBC’s UK distribution, and foot traffic in many branches was at a “all-time low, with no indications of it returning”. For the great majority of us, “banking remotely is becoming the norm,” she continued. Especially if it was the final branch in a region, she noted, closing a branch was “never simple or handled lightly.” She continued by saying that HSBC was making investments in “post-closure” initiatives, such as giving certain branch clients free tablets to enable them do banking online.
The closing of branches is unavoidable, but what will worry people is how quickly they are doing so. Each year, hundreds of branches are removed. That is a far faster rate than possible alternatives can be opened to assist people who are still in need.
In the UK, 27 “shared banking centers” have been designated, although just two have actually begun operations. They enable cash deposits and withdrawals for neighborhood businesses and vulnerable citizens who are regular customers of any bank. Charities and consumer organizations are urging the initiative to go more quickly despite being largely praised and supported.
