Whilst the Government acknowledges that decisions to open or close a branch are commercial decisions for banks, and does not intervene on individual closures, it is imperative that banks and building societies recognise the needs of all their customers, including those who still need to use in-person services. The impact of branch closures must be mitigated where possible so that all customers, wherever they live, continue to have appropriate access to banking services.<\/p>
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)\u2019s guidance sets out that firms must carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers\u2019 everyday banking and cash access needs, and put in place reasonable alternatives. This seeks to ensure the implementation of closure decisions is done in a way that treats customers fairly. Where firms fall short, the FCA may ask for closures to be paused or other options to be put in place.<\/p>
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Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and via the Post Office or Banking Hubs. The Post Office allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK, and Banking Hubs are an initiative which enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities. Over 100 Banking Hubs have been announced so far, and the Government hopes to see these Hubs open as soon as possible.<\/p>
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With the increasing shift in customer behaviour to online and mobile banking, access to digital services is key, which is why my colleagues in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are working with Building Digital UK (BDUK) to connect at least 85% of UK premises to gigabit-capable broadband by 2025, and for nationwide connectivity (at least 99%) to be realised by 2030. Over 80% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, a huge leap forward from 2019, when coverage was just 6%.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4639", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bim Afolami"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hitchin and Harpenden"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bim Afolami"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-01-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "10343"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-01-22T18:29:09.28Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-01-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Bank Services: Standards"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to maintain appropriate banking access in areas with (a) closing banks and (b) poor digital connectivity.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4853", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dr Neil Hudson"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Penrith and The Border"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Dr Neil Hudson"} ], "uin" : "10344"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1546970", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1546970/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government is committed to improving access to financial services, especially for those with a characteristic of vulnerability, and regularly engages with the retail banking sector on this important agenda.<\/p>
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As part of this, the Government recognises that access to a transactional bank account is key to enabling people to manage their money on a day-to-day basis effectively, securely and confidently. That is why the nine largest personal current account providers in the UK are legally required to offer basic bank accounts to customers who do not have a bank account or who are not eligible for a bank's standard current account. Basic bank accounts must be fee-free and do not have an overdraft facility or cheque book, but otherwise offer the same services as a standard personal current account.<\/p>
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UK banks\u2019 and building societies\u2019 treatment of their customers is governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in its Principles for Businesses. This includes a general requirement for firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all of their customers.<\/p>
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The FCA\u2019s Vulnerability Guidance outlines the expectations for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers, such as those with learning disabilities and special educational needs, setting out a number of best practices. The FCA expects that firms treat these customers fairly and support them to continue to interact with financial services in a way that best works for them.<\/p>
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In addition, like all service providers, banks and building societies are bound under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, where necessary, in the way they deliver their services.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4874", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrew Griffith"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Arundel and South Downs"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrew Griffith"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-12-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-12-05T13:30:07.297Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-11-30", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Bank Services: Standards"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will have discussions with the retail banking sector on improving customer service standards and reducing social and banking exclusion for customers with learning disabilities and special educational needs.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1576", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mark Pritchard"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "The Wrekin"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mark Pritchard"} ], "uin" : "99787"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130449", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130449/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The independent Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) is responsible for assessing the performance of Open Banking, and HM Treasury\u2019s view is informed by their assessment.<\/p>
<\/p>
The OBIE\u2019s latest published assessment of Open Banking performance, made in March 2019, shows that in that month the average availability of Open Banking APIs was 97%, the average response time was 798 milliseconds, and that 38.2 million successful API calls had been made, representing over 97% of the total number of calls made to APIs.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4051", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for John Glen"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Salisbury"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "John Glen"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-13T13:36:10.54Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Bank Services: Standards"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what key performance indicators his Department uses to assess the performance of Open Banking; and what recent assessment he has made of the performance of Open Banking.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1586", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Adam Afriyie"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Windsor"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Adam Afriyie"} ], "uin" : "261179"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }