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High Street banks must recognise that branches matter, says ALEX BRUMMER By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail Updated: 17:01 EST, 2 January 2024 e-mail View comments Challenging Britain’s incumbent High Street banks is a perennial problem. The big lenders make few friends with branch closures, overcharging for routine transactions, cutting services and clunky, exasperating technology. In many ways, the competitive advantage of the big four – NatWest, Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds – ought to be their network of outlets. Closures continue apace with some 6,000 branches disappearing since 2015 and a further 200 scheduled to go in 2024. In their enthusiasm for cost cutting and share buybacks, the banks are missing a longer-term opportunity. Closures: Some 6,000 bank branches have disappeared since 2015 with a further 200 scheduled to go in 2024 As Nationwide recognises, re-purposed outlets can be a huge plus. They provide direct access to customers and in a fast changing world offer guidance on mortgage deals and savings opportunities. Informed colleagues in the bank branches could provide all manner of services such as taxation counselling, information on trusts, share dealing facilities, insurance offers and safekeeping of documents. The banks, similarly to oil majors, will find themselves managing decline if customers have to travel to find a branch and keep cutting basic services. JP Morgan is responding to the twin challenges of an ageing customer base and fast advancing technologies by the launch of its digital only bank Chase. HSBC recognises that it has to do better by winning back customers fed up with clunky and costly bank international transfers with the launch of an app for overseas transfers. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Bitcoin tops $45,000: Cryptocurrency at highest for nearly... Oil price jumps back towards $80 a barrel amid mounting... The accidental icon: The fascinating history of how the FTSE... Tech jobs risk being replaced by AI, Nobel Prize-winning... Share this article Share HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa and the right DIY investing account High levels of migration in recent years from south to north, and war torn countries such as Syria and Sudan, means increasing demand for cheap, reliable transfer services. It would be a mistake to think that overseas movements of funds are all about a second home in Tuscany. The latest data from the World Bank shows that remittances – direct money transfers to family members in poor countries from Western democracies – reached a peak of £508billion in 2023. The scale of the opportunity for reducing the cost of such transfers explains the millions of customers seeking better exchange rates, speedier transmission and minimal bureaucracy offered by the UK based Wise and Revolut. Both companies may have regulatory problems but Revolut’s popularity – it claims 30m customers – is no accident. Nor are the 7.4m clients claimed by Monzo. A younger cohort is hurdling over the banking behemoths and offering something more intuitive. Britain, with its commands of high-tech, code and AI, has become a hatchery for fintech start-ups. The best way for High Street banks to stay in the game for the long-term is to recognise that branches matter. Next and Tesco, among the biggest winners in retail, show the way by embracing a twin track of online and in-store services. Healthy start Those used to waking up to the BBC Today programme and an endless stream of negativity about the UK economy and demands from pressure groups for hand-outs will be greatly cheered by the upbeat vision offered by Dame Emma Walmsley. As guest editor, the GSK chief executive explored with listeners the brilliance of the UK’s knowledge base, declaring herself a ‘great optimist’ about Britain’s prospects. She argued that Britain is uniquely placed in the life sciences, with its great concentration of academic skills, world class companies, biotech research and the NHS. Amid all the tedious ill-informed Opposition rhetoric about the Tories crashing the economy, there is precious little recognition that the UK is home to four of the world’s top 20 research universities as well as the Francis Crick Institute in London. As a pioneer in vaccine development for a range of maladies, Walmsley noted that UK biotech is innovating very effectively. She added that the NHS was a great test bed with its treasure trove of data. A New Year’s resolution for Today: more grown up editors please. Words matter Thanks to colleagues on other titles, we have some new descriptive economic words for 2024. The Times lands on ‘vibecession’, which describes a state of downbeat thinking regardless of an economy performing well. The FT endorses the ‘zoomers’, the techies who believe that scientific breakthroughs such as AI can outrun the ‘doomers’. Less cheering is the concept of ‘grey gloom’ – the idea that lower interest rates will fail to lift the mist of despondency created by living standards under stress. All provided useful additions to the lexicon. DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS Easy investing Stocks & shares Isa £1.50 fund dealing 0.25% fee on fund holdings Investment ideas Free fund dealing Free fund dealing 0.45% account fee capped for shares Flat-fee investing No fees From £4.99 a month Trade shares and funds for £3.99 Social investing Social investing Share investing 30+ million global community Model portfolios Investment account Free fund dealing Free financial coaching Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. 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