Jonathan Renouf

This post is to provide an update (and further thoughts) on a meeting that all 5 elected representatives from St Brelade (Deputies Helen Miles, Moz Scott, Monty Tadier and myself, along with Constable Mike Jackson) held with Lloyds Bank on Thurs Sept 26th, to discuss the recently announced closure of their Les Quennevais branch. Following the meeting, we put out the following statement.

“Yesterday, all 5 elected representatives from St Brelade had a 45 minute meeting with representatives from Lloyds Bank in the Channel Islands to discuss the closure of the bank’s branch in St Brelade. We had an open and frank discussion about the reasons behind Lloyds’ decision and the mitigation measures the bank have put in place to help customers. We conveyed the many comments we have had from constituents about the closure, including a desire for the branch to stay open. However, the bank confirmed that the decision to close the bank will not be reversed. 

We noted the bank’s work to support customers in the transition to digital banking, and their offer to visit customers in their home if they unable to visit the branch. We also discussed the possibilities for offering banking services in other locations in the parish.

We are grateful to the bank for taking the time to meet with us and engage with the concerns that have been raised by members of the public, both in St Brelade and by users of the branch from other parishes.”

Comments

The bank reiterated that a drop in usage of the branch is what led to the closure. They confirmed they did not conduct any survey of bank users to find out the strength of opinion amongst their customers about the value of the branch.

It is not a surprise that the bank did not change their position. They did however suggest some alternative options for users of the Les Quennevais branch. For example, they were keen to point out that customers who struggle to get to town or to deal with telephone or mobile banking can request a home visit. However, there are some caveats. First, you have to be registered with mobile banking to request a home visit. Second, the call goes through to a UK call centre, not to the branch in St Helier. And third, home visits cannot deal with cash. Nevertheless, I would encourage people to take up this offer – at the very least we will be able to see how effective this alternative turns out to be.

Lloyds also pointed out that they approached Jersey Post about the possibility of creating a banking hub at Les Quennevais – however, Jersey Post did not take up the offer of further discussions. There may be regulatory reasons why this is difficult in Jersey, but it is something that I will be investigating further.

It is a shame that a highly profitable bank that makes much of its commitment to inclusion is not prepared to place a higher priority on customers who are not – for a variety of reasons – able to move into the age of digital banking and/or find travel to the branch in town difficult. However, it is also perhaps a little unfair to single out Lloyds for criticism, given that they have stayed in St Brelade longer than some other banks. Indeed, the closure of the branch raises wider issues for society about increasing dependence on digital technology and the closing down of face to face consumer services.

Digital technology is expensive (customers have reported to me that they have lost access to digital banking because their phone is considered obsolete – so digital banking locks customers into an expensive upgrade cycle for phones) and requires ongoing subscriptions. Without close proximity to the Number 15 bus route, travel to town is not easy for those without cars or those who are mobility impaired. So, whilst the world will not end with the closure of the Lloyds branch, for elderly or vulnerable people, life will become that little bit harder with that little bit less control.

This is where government could play a greater role. Les Quennevais is promoted in the Island Plan as the island’s second urban centre, but that rings pretty hollow when service provision is declining so visibly. One way to counter that might be to create a CLS “hub” at Les Quennevais (in one of the empty units at the parade) which could provide a local point of contact with access to government services some days of the week and bank staff on other days. Parishes could also provide a hub for training and support for those who need help with digital/telephone banking, as part of a wider offering for digital training, perhaps in collaboration with Digital Jersey.

A final thought. So far at least, HSBC are maintaining their presence “out west”, which shows that not all banks have (yet) reached the same conclusion as Lloyds. Since footfall seems to be the metric that banks have adopted, I would encourage those who wish to see a branch presence at Les Quennevais to continue to use the HSBC branch at every opportunity.