Baroness Tyler, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility and the Lords Committee on Financial Exclusion, has written for PoliticsHome.com welcoming Nationwide’s commitment to keep branches open.

It came after the building society announced that every town or city which currently has a branch will still have one in 2021. She commented: ‘I find it deeply ironic that the UK is considered a world leader in financial services when its banks fail to provide basic services to so many vulnerable consumers.

The necessity of banking services just to be able to function in our society means that easy access to banking needs to be considered a basic right in the same way access to basic utilities is. A fair deal for consumers means the right to access physical banking services for those who wish to do so.’

She asked whether it was possible for banks ‘to come to some collaborative arrangement’ perhaps ‘even if it is just for a few afternoons a week in the local community centre’ to support disabled and elderly people.

Full articles:

→ PoliticsHome - Baroness Tyler: Financial services play a vital role in our communities, more must be done to keep branches open

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