Carnforth Town Council has urged bosses of Barclays to reconsider its decision to close the local branch in October.
The branch will shut its doors for the final time on October 13th, with the bank blaming a significant drop in customers using it.
Councillor Jim Grisenthwaite said it was another blow for the town: ‘’The announcement will leave the town without any face-to-face banking facilities and another empty retail premises on Market Street.
‘’Carnforth, like many other towns of similar size, has been slowly recovering from the effects of the Covid pandemic. This news therefore comes as a body blow not only to local businesses but also to the many elderly and disadvantaged residents, from Carnforth and from surrounding villages, who do not have access to internet banking.
‘’The news will also increase the pressure on the town’s post office which already experiences queuing at certain times of the day.
‘’While we welcome the news that Barclays will endeavour to maintain a presence in the community by using a banking van that will call in the town at certain times, this is surely just another example of managed decline. In the fullness of time this too will be withdrawn on the grounds that levels of use do not justify the expense.
‘’The relentless march of the corporate banking organisations towards online services at the expense of local branches should not be regarded as the inevitable advance of technology over out-dated forms of business practice. The ordinary person may prefer to do business with another human being rather than wait endlessly in a telephone queue or deal online with a faceless robot.
‘’Perhaps as corporate banking profits generally continue to increase year-on-year, their boards of directors may one day realise that however they dress up their products, there is no satisfactory replacement for a friendly professional presence on the street corner.
‘’For that reason, Carnforth Town Council is opposed to the closure of Barclays Carnforth branch and urges the bank to reconsider its decision because of the detrimental effect this will have on the residents, businesses and economy of our town.’’
Barclays claim just 41 regular customers use the Carnforth branch exclusively for banking and do not interact with the bank in other ways.
There’s been a 34% reduction in counter transactions in the last two years, while 85% of customers also use bank via different methods.
Barclays say they will remain active in the community and are currently looking for a suitable location where staff can still support customers who still require a face-to-face service.
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