Ilkley MP Robbie Moore has criticised decisions to close a further two bank branches in Ilkley as "completely and utterly misjudged" after news that both HSBC and NatWest are to close their Ilkley branches.
The announcements follow Barclays decision to close their Ilkley branch last year, and leaves Ilkley without significant vital banking services.
Upon hearing the news, Mr Moore, who held a meeting directly with NatWest representatives last week, will now hold a public meeting in the town on access to banking services in Ilkley, inviting representatives of both HSBC and NatWest.
Mr Moore says that vulnerable customers across Ilkley will face “significant disruption” due to the decisions, and argues that with both banks pledging to support customers through digital alternatives like video and telephone banking, services will not be as accessible as they should be.
The MP believes that both HSBC and NatWest’s proposed measures to manage their branch closures are insufficient, and now wants wants to understand the scale of the disruption by organising an urgent meeting with representatives of both banks and the public so customers can raise their concerns on access to banking services in the town directly with those involved.
Robbie Moore MP said
“Recent decisions to close both the NatWest and HSBC branches in Ilkley are completely and utterly misjudged, and I am not at all convinced that both banks have proposed measures which support their current customers.
We have already lost Barclays and I am deeply concerned about the collective impact of these decisions.
According to NatWest’s own data, around 74% of customers in Ilkley are digitally active. This leaves a significant proportion of my constituents in the dark, and I know figures for the other two banks are similar
I made my thoughts clear to NatWest just last week in our meeting, and I will be organising a public meeting with all banking representatives about the level of service provision and to ensure that access to banking services is maintained. It so important that these companies listen to their customers, and I will be sharing details of the meeting to all shortly."
