Priti backs Parish Council’s request for a banking hub in Tiptree

Priti Patel MP has backed Tiptree Parish Council’s request for a community banking hub in Tiptree, following the closure of the Barclays Bank and Lloyds Bank branches in the Village.

Working in conjunction with Tiptree Parish Council, Priti has given her support to the creation of a banking hub, led by LINK, to be opened in Tiptree to provide access to financial services for all residents in the Village.

Priti has written to the Head of Financial Inclusion at LINK to make the case for full financial service provision in Tiptree, which is already poorly served due to the closure of local bank branches and capacity constraints at Tiptree Post Office.

Having seen many retail bank branches close across the Witham constituency, Priti has been vocal in raising her concerns about the decline in access to financial services and the disregard banks have for providing face to face services to their customers.

In her letter of support for the Parish Council’s community request for a banking hub, Priti said: “The difficulties faced by elderly and disabled people in using such a limited space at the Post Office are considerable, given the long queues for service and the waiting time involved. The option to seek help with their banking in the nearby town of Witham, for those who are able to do so, is also rapidly diminishing, with the closure of the Lloyds Branch in the town having recently been announced. “

“The age of Tiptree’s residents is higher than average, making the absence of local banking facilities disproportionately detrimental to the interests of the Village’s older residents. Furthermore, Tiptree has over 110 businesses, many of whom need help with the handling of cash and coinage, as well as other banking services.

“In my view, there is a very strong case for a banking hub in Tiptree to fill the serious gap in services being caused by the closure of so many bank branches in Tiptree and nearby towns.”

Priti urged LINK to give Tiptree Parish Council’s community request for a banking hub very serious consideration

Notes:

A banking hub is a shared banking space, like a traditional bank branch but available to everyone. They have a counter service where customers of all the main banks can withdraw and deposit cash, make bill payments, and carry out regular banking transactions. They also have private spaces where customers can speak to someone from their own bank about more complex matters. The banks work on a rotating basis, so there will be staff from different banks available on different days.

For more information about banking hubs go to:  www.link.co.uk/help/banking-hubs-help/

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