Banking hub to open in town with no branches

The hub allows customers to carry out digital banking transactions

A new banking hub has opened in a Berkshire town after the closure of all but one of its individual bank and building society branches.

The Newbury Building Society in Thatcham is hosting a kiosk operated by OneBanx that enables customers of other banks to make transactions.

The society said there was a "big need" for the facility.

Banking hubs can be used for paying in and withdrawing cash, paying bills and getting change for businesses.

Customers can use the kiosk to manage their money, with staff from the building society available to help.

Like many towns, Thatcham has seen the closure of its high street bank branches.

Its HSBC closed in 2016, NatWest shut its doors in 2018, followed by Barclays in 2020 and Lloyds finally closed in 2022.

OneBanx was set up in 2020 to assist high street banks service customers in areas without physical branches.

Claire Lee is one of the business people using the new hub

Hairdresser Claire Lee welcomed the banking hub in Thatcham.

She said it saved her from a trip to Newbury to deposit cash.

"I popped into the new bank the other day to deposit some money - it took two minutes and I was back to work in a flash," she said.

Dean Scott, a director at OneBanx, said: "We think there is a big need in the community for this, for access to cash and access to banking again.

"Thatcham hasn't had a bank in the town since 2022 and this hub goes some way to giving access to cash and banking back to the people."

Nearly 6,000 branches have shut since the start of 2015, according to the consumer group Which?, with scores more already scheduled to close this year.

Banks have pointed to the large reduction in branch use - a trend accelerated by the Covid pandemic - and the popularity of managing money via smartphones, as justification for cutting their branch network.

Research by Age UK found the elderly and those with disabilities were among those likely to struggle with digital banking.

Other hubs are owned by Cash Access UK and run by the Post Office in partnership with nine major high street banks.