Earlier this month, Richard met with Adam Wilkinson from link to discuss banking hubs. Banking hubs are shared services that enable customers of any of the major high street banks to access basic banking services and advice from community bankers.
Richard Fuller MP said:
With banks and building societies closing so many of their branches, it becomes more important to ensure that people retain easy access to physical locations for banking as well as being able to use online banking. In my brief time as a Minister, I introduced the bill that set up a requirement for banking hubs to be made available in communities when all other bank options had left.
The responsibility for determining those locations was given to Link who use a consistent approach to selecting locations. So far, Link has recommended 231 locations for banking hubs.
The meeting was timely because both Sandy and Biggleswade Town Councils have made representations to be considered. Earlier this year, Link responded to say that neither towns would be considered for hubs at this time. You can see access Link’s assessments here: https://www.link.co.uk/our-assessments
The meeting with Adam Wilkinson of Link gave me the opportunity to understand the reasoning and to encourage Link to keep these bids in mind given the rapid rise in local population and the recent decisions by some banks and building societies to close.
