Barclays Bank leaders have told Rye Town Council that they “have no immediate plans to close the branch in Rye”, which shortly becomes the only bank branch left in the town.
However they say “we are seeing unprecedented changes in the way people choose to do their banking, with many opting to carry out transactions online or on smartphones or tablets”.
But the council had told the bank, as a result of a proposal moved by Deputy Mayor Rebekah Gilbert, that:
- “There are strong business needs for a bank in the town as family-owned businesses (over 95% of our shops) do not have the time to close their stores to get change, pay in daily cash takings etc, and
- In addition we have a number of individually run public houses and tourist destinations that largely take cash and need somewhere to deposit this daily.”
Her proposal concluded that “a thriving and popular tourist Cinque Port town with no banking facilities would be incredibly damaging to the community as a whole”.
Rye News’ previous story about the council debate attracted a number of comments and, while Barclays says it can not provide definitive commitments about any branch, it has promised to contact the council if the situation changes.
One nearby branch in a much larger town, which is mainly automated for personal customers, does retain some facilities just for business customers.
A mobile bank, which visits some local villages, is unlikely to meet business needs.
Photo: Rye News Library
Image Credits: Kenneth Bird .
Dear Councillor Harkness,
I am very surprised that your report on Barclays Bank includes the comment that they will shortly become the only bank branch left in our town.
This is very wrong as you have chosen to completely ignore the excellent premises of Nationwide only a short distance along our High Street ! Yes, I know that they were registered by 1850 as a building society, but they chose long ago to keep that reference even though they had developed to become a truly first-class nationally known bank. My Wife & I chose to move our account to them in 1987, with no regrets ever since !!
The Nationwide, where I also have an account, is a building society, not a bank, and does not take (to the best of my knowledge) business accounts – and is not geared up to handling large amounts of cash (as I recall a recent notice in the branch saying). I think the limit is 4 (maybe 5) bags of cash. …. so Barclays will shortly become the only bank branch left in town handling business customers.
On a recent holiday in Pembokshire( where bank branches are also in short supply) I was quite surprised to note that In pubs in tourist hotspots hardly anyone was paying in cash but instead chose to swipe their cards on the terminals provided on the bar.Could be the way forward?