Natwest has announced the permanent closure of its Ryde branch, which will leave another empty building in the heart of the Town Centre come August.
The move leaves Island customers with just 1 remaining Natwest branch following previous closures of branches in Sandown and Ventnor in 2011, Cowes and Freshwater in 2015 and Shanklin in 2017.
It’s a fresh blow to the residents and businesses of Ryde following recent announcements by both Barclays and HSBC within the last 12 months that they would also close their own respective branches in the town. All 3 banks will now have a solitary branch in Newport as their only presence on the Island.
Natwest has produced an information leaflet which is available in branch and which explains the rationale behind the decision.
It’s said that comparing January 2019 and January 2022, counter transactions for personal customers have decreased by 64%. The branch was used by 5 personal customers and 101 business customers on a regular basis in 2021, it is claimed.
No public announcement has yet been made on the future of the branch’s staff but Island Echo understands that they only learnt of the impending closure when they arrived for work this morning (Wednesday).
The future of the building itself is unclear with fears that it might join the growing list of empty commercial properties on the Island. Natwest Ryde occupies a large and prominent location in the town on land where the Theatre Royal once stood.
What exactly can you do in person in a bank that you can’t do via online banking? They’re obsolete, accept it.
when you get locked out of online banking, the bank can sort it, try doing it on the phone
And you’d get locked out because….?
Coffin dodgers buying raffle tickets for the latest charity that have a table in the branch, spending an inordinate amount of time in front of the internal ATM at peak times in a stuporous state not knowing how to insert a cheque and infusing the branch with their stale aroma of eau de codger.
….with a hint of lavender!
I had a difficult mortgage, ‘Diana’ in Barclays sorted it out BECAUSE I could see her. She literally saved my life and if you read this Mrs A, I salute you. The reason she could deal with it was firstly I’d been a customer for years, secondly she totally got common sense and thirdly because I could see her face to face.
No way to do that on the phone to India!!!
I have difficult relatives but not yet had a difficult mortgage.
Only 1 bank still uses an Indian call centre. All other banks and building societies use UK based contact centres.
pay cash in, take large amounts of cash out, pay in a check, reset your bank account if you lose your card or get locked out from the online or app, yes you can do some of this over the phone or in the post office but it takes extra time especially paying cash in, in the bank cash goes in to your account straight away, in the post office can take 3-5 days at least (and yes some people still use cash and cheques)
at least 40/60% of my takings are in cash which I deposit in my Nat West account weekly So am I supposed to now travel to Newport every week? Looks like I need to quickly find another bank or building society in Ryde?
Looks like you need to get with the times and change your income revenue model
Play time at school is it? If I insisted my customers paid only by card or bank transfer I’d be out of business in weeks and there would be another empty building for you to grizzle about
Ill drop it off for you
Try Nationwide. They are excellent
Five people sitting in a bank cost over the course of a year about 100k. All that because some muppet wants to withdraw 2k in one go or locked themselves out of online banking. It’s a waste, whichever way you look at it.
I guess you are not very old by your childish remarks
Bob, were you born an idiot or just became one?
The banks also recently introduced limits on the amount of cash that can be paid in via Post Offices per year. No limits to pay over the bank counter but who knows how long banks will even remain on the island?
Pay in a cheque.
Most banks allow you to cash a cheque online or via their mobile app as they no longer require the physical cheque back.
There are many over 65’s on the Island who don’t have online banking and perhaps don’t drive either. Not a good prospect having to bus into Newport every time you need a bank
What will we do? Ryde is running out of money!
Transfer your accounts to Lloyds if it is going to stay open.
Please knock the hideous building down and build a lovely red brick theatre.
I suppose if you had a banking problem you would have to drive to the nearest branch.
I have not set foot in a bank for years.Dont really even use a cash machine now.
Hope they pull that 70s eyesore down and make a nice public space
No chance, council policy is to build houses, what else do you expect? Knowing that crowd that is already the plan, financed by NW of course. Have heard that you can go to NW Newport instead. Ha ha. Prefer to go to Pompey.
Please don’t let Ryde Town Council buy it. Otherwise it will sit empty for years.
join a building society
Too many banks are relying on digital, Martin Lewis did a poll on how many people use digital banking finances etc and the outcome of that was not as many as you would think. Big mistake on banks this shutting of branches, most of the money held by them comes in from 50+ age groups, just wish they would pass the increase in interest rates onto us sooner rather than 2 or 3 months down the line. I am including all what used to be High Street banks in this comment not just those in this article.
If ‘so many’ people used the branches, there would be a business case to keep them open. The truth is, branches cost a huge amount of money to run, bring in very little custom and even less profit.
Times change, society evolves and firms have to modernise. There are plenty of firms who failed to modernise and ultimately closed; like Woolworths, Debenhams, BHS and Clintons to name but a few.
Rob and all those that think it makes sense for banks to close branches based on what the banks claim is low footfall are naïve in the extreme. Fact: The Island has a predominance of elderly people, a huge percentage of whom do not either wish to use, or do not understand, on-line banking. I DO NOT BELIEVE for a single moment that any branch actually runs at a loss. The real reason banks are are falling over themselves to close branches throughout the country is because they want to dispense with cash and force on us digital currency. Our freedom to choose what we spend our money on will be gone. Ultimately, they and government will decide that for us. Wake Up before it is too late!
The article is about a bank branch closure, not about your perception that the Gov is trying to control our spending habits.
I can assure you, most branches operate at a massive loss. I’m not sure why you believe this not to be the case.
Most people do use online banking regardless of age. Again, I’m not sure why you believe otherwise.
Personally I find it very disrespectful that because I’m over 55, people like you assume I can’t use online banking or online shopping. It’s a ridiculous assumption. I honestly can’t remember the last time I used a bank branch.