Emsworth residents will remember  that in 2014 Emsworth had three banks and Havant seven, places where we could visit and speak to  some one about, for instance, the best available mortgage, the pros and cons about taking a loan or just to pay a bill or pay in a cheque. Now there are just three remaining.

The first to go was Lloyds in Emsworth followed by Barclays in 2014 leaving Nat West to close its Emsworth branch in 2017.At the present-day Havant has only three banks remaining Lloyds  Halifax, both scheduled to close early in 2026 leaving Nationwide the future of which is only guaranteed until 2028 leaving the entire Borough  (population 124,000) with no bank. Then where will go? Well for most it will be either Portsmouth or Chichester.

It is ironic that a poster in the Lloyds branch in Havant advertises that Halifax customers can use their services, and a poster in the Halifax branch says that they welcome Lloyds’ customers to use their branch, and now they are both to close within four days of each other!  This is a harsh decision.  Couldn’t one remain open?  Preferably Lloyds as that has blue badge parking just outside?

To an extent Emsworth residents are lucky as there are several accessible ATMs and cash withdrawals and cheque payments to our banks can be made at the post Office counter in the Coop but what if we need to visit an actual bank?

We are all aware of the reasons for these closures – the rise of internet banking and the use of banking apps on smartphones. This will leave those without access to the internet and those without a smartphone leaving the elderly and those with long-term health problems disadvantaged. . Some interesting statistics relevant to this issue:

§  40% of Havant aged +65  In the UK, 19% of the population was aged +65 

§  25%  aged over 65  approx. have no smartphone

§  Havant had the highest rate in Hampshire: of people with a long-term health problem or disability that limits their daily activities or work, at 8.8%

§  The Financial Conduct Authority has warned that almost a quarter of adults have problems using financial products or services and other recent research says that the same proportion feel digitally excluded in some way.

So, the banks save money by branch closures to make more money at their customer’s inconvenience and expense.

More information can be found on The Havant Civic Society’s page

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