Bosses at Barclays Bank have insisted they still wish to be “part of the community” when the branch in Market Street closes in April.

The deputy customer care director Chris Channel met with town councillors Kathryn Cross and Kim Carsok soon after their announcement and said that while Wymondham’s cashier service was one of those affected by the bank’s latest round of closures, it would not be the end of their relationship with the town. He explained that they were looking at ways for customers to speak to a staff member face-to-face about their account by opening a ‘Local Touchpoint’. Negotiations were ongoing on its location but they were looking at a town centre solution.

He said: “This will be open approximately three days a week, where people can speak to a staff member about their account, for mortgage advice, fraud advice, move money between accounts, report a bereavement etc. These have proved very popular in other locations where branches have closed.”

The closure of the branch was blamed on dramatic changes in the way customers are using banking services and an influx of digital only banking options, for example Monzo and Starling etc. Mr Channel said: “Barclays has a 330 year history but in the past 10 years there have been dramatic changes. We have had to look at how Barclays will remain relevant for the next 330 years and compete with the digital banks that have much lower overheads. 90 percent of transactions that used to be done over the counter are now done digitally and it is this massive shift that the business is coming to terms with.”

He said while the older population still want to pay in cash or write a cheque for cash it is not cost effective to offer that service. The move to more online banking had accelerated due to Covid. The bank did try closing one day a week to see if there were more customers on other days but it didn’t make enough difference.

As banks are governed by the Financial Conduct Authority, if they close a branch for a commercial decision they have to look at the impact on the community when they leave.

The Cash Action Group, operated by Link, is given the responsibility of looking at the town to see when a branch goes that there will still be access to cash to withdraw or pay in.

It found that other bank branches have ATMs and the Post Office is contracted by Barclays for personal and business customers to pay in and withdraw cash and pay in cheques.

As a result of the findings, Barclays will encourage all customers to have online access and want to engage with the community in holding workshops to show how easy it is to download and use the banking app.

While councillors Cross and Carsok both raised concerns about an influx of banking customers in the Jarrold-based Post Office Kiosk, Mr Channel said the counter staff were aware of the closure of both Barclays and HSBC and the staff were keen for people to come down and try out the banking services. The Post Office at Lime Tree Avenue had also been spoken to.

Wymondham’s branch manager Claire Hills said more people had come into the branch concerned about the staff rather than their accounts and she was not aware of anyone closing their accounts as a result of the closure announcement. Mr Channel said he had received two emails from customers with concerns.

They were both aware that there were concerns from small businesses, charities, schools etc about getting cash for floats for events and said if a little notice was given this can be accommodated, as well as depositing large amounts of small change, in the same way as the bank, in sorted bags.

Mr Channel said some shops that housed post offices or were opposite post offices were quite happy that there would be more customers but acknowledged that it might be more difficult for Jarrolds to cope with longer queues through the store.

Other options for cash include asking for cashback in shops, and they are working with Barclaycard to enable customers to get cash from shops/cafes etc without buying anything and the shop owner actually being paid a commission for doing the transaction.

The Barclays location is leased, so will be left secure and in good order before closure on April 28 and available for another business to take over with negotiation with the landlord. The ATM will also be taken out and the car parking spaces remain as part of the lease.