Closures affecting rural communities

In a sweeping move NatWest is closing nearly 200 of its branches this year.
Nat West bankNat West bank
Nat West bank

One of these branches is in Penistone, South Yorkshire where it is the last bank in the area and will cause much hardship for residents forcing them to travel the 10 miles to Barnsley or 14 miles to Sheffield.

Penistone is a growing community with many new builds going up. It is the centre for many farms and villages and businesses in the area. There is a large elderly population including many residents without cars who have to live with a degraded public transport system that has become unreliable and expensive.

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The bank tells us that in place of the local branch we must now travel to larger towns plus do online banking but many people, such as the elderly and businesses, still need personal help and also need to deposit cheques and cash. They will now have to drive, many on a daily basis, to branches in cities on already overcrowded roads causing environmental pollution, accidents, extra work and other disruption for the lives of those people who need over-the-counter services.

Our local Natwest bank is a community hub. The branch is always busy when I go in and the friendly staff are superb when it comes to knowing their customers’ needs and giving them personal service.

I grew up here and help care for my parents who are both living with dementia. They get very confused over the state of their finances and our local bank knows their situation and gives them help and reassurance. Because of their mental and physical states, getting to Barnsley and Sheffield is next to impossible and the idea of them using online banking would be laughable were it not so sad because of their dementia.

It seems NatWest only cares about its bottom line and doesn’t care one iota for the hardships, wasted time, extra driving, accidents and pollution that their bank closure in Penistone is going to have on our already busy lives. It is the only bank for miles around and it is a travesty that this should be allowed to happen.

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Can someone from NatWest please explain the sense of what they are doing to my community as well as nearly 200 other communities around the country?

Other than signing a petition (which I suspect will do no good whatsoever) there seems to be no way to protest or fight to keep a bank in the town. And I imagine those responsible for these closures sit in their ivory tower thinking that this is a fabulous way for the bank to save costs and make extra profits. But for us it is a terrible situation.

Banks need to serve those who need them and not just pull out when they see a way of making more profit.

Our community will be gutted by this move. Can anything be done? Or do banks hold all the power to do as they please?

R Shaw

Penistone, Yorkshire