Residents of a town in Derbyshire will benefit from a new banking hub after the recent wave of branch closures.
Belper has been left without a bank for more than a year after its last Lloyds branch shut down in November 2022.
This new physical banking hub will be located on King Street and the Post Office will operate a counter service within it.
Five high street banks, including Santander, Barclays, HSBC and NatWest, will offer banking services at the Cash Access UK-managed hub on different days of the week.
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Residents in the Derbyshire will benefit from the improved services
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The hub has been set up following the trend of bank branch closures which have impacted peoples’ access to cash in rural communities.
Councillor Jamie Walls, Belper Town Council mayor, described the new banking service as “vital” to the local area.
He said the banking hub would mean people will not have to travel to Derby or Ripley for in-person services.
According to Cash Access UK, banking hubs will open across Derbyshire throughout 2024 to benefit those affected by closed branches.
Here is a breakdown of when each high street bank will be available to Belper residents during the working week:
- Barclays will be open to customers on Mondays
- NatWest will be open to customers on Tuesdays
- HSBC will be open to customers on Wednesdays
- Lloyds will be open to customers on Thursdays
- Santander will be open to customers on Fridays.
Cash machine network LINK has revealed figures which show 1,100 bank branches have closed in the UK since May 2022.
This new physical banking hub is set to be opened in Derby by Mid Derbyshire MP Pauline Latham tomorrow.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Lloyds was the last bank to have a branch open in Belper
PAThis is not the first banking hub to be opened in Derbyshire in response to bank branch closures across the country.
Another town in the country, Clay Cross, opened a banking hub in November 2023 with a similar proposal for a branch to open Shirebrook is set to open in 2024.
Speaking to the BBC, Mayor Wallis shared: "There's still people that don't bank online and this hub is a good solution... it's the best of both worlds.
"It's great for the town... it's going to be good community asset and it's fantastic that it's finally here."