Calls For Alternative Banking In Crowborough As Lloyds Confirms Branch Closure

There are renewed calls for alternative banking facilities in Crowborough after confirmation that the town’s last remaining bank branch will close this summer.

Lloyds Bank is set to shut its Crowborough branch in June, following earlier closures by Barclays and Santander UK.

The nearest branch will then be around eight miles away in Tunbridge Wells.

Nusrat Ghani, MP for Sussex Weald, said she would work with Crowborough mayor Natalie Whittle to “secure an alternative, walk-in facility” for the town.

Mayor Whittle highlighted concerns for charities, clubs and societies that still handle cash, as well as businesses that accept cheques.

She also stressed the importance of face-to-face banking for some residents, particularly older customers.

Figures from Lloyds show that just under 700 people regularly use the Crowborough branch.

More than half of those customers are aged over 55, and more than 90 per cent of the accounts accessed are personal rather than business accounts.

Confirming the decision, a spokesperson for Lloyds said customers now have “more choice and ways to manage money than ever before”.

Ghani has pledged to make representations to Cash Access UK, which works to provide shared banking hubs and essential cash services in communities across the country.

She pointed to Hailsham as an example of where a banking hub is already operating successfully and said she would press the case for a similar facility in Crowborough.

Alex Conaway, chief marketing officer at Cash Access UK, said new shared banking hubs are continuing to open nationwide, including in the South East, to ensure people and businesses can access cash services locally.

He added that the hubs are proving popular, with an average of more than 150 transactions taking place each day.

So far, 213 hubs have been opened across the UK.