UNDERBANKED increasing and specific factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis contributing to respondents ’ physical and mental health .
ARE SHARED BANKING SPACES THE FUTURE ? Increasing digitisation has rendered brickand-mortar branches largely redundant , leading to mass closures , particularly in Europe . This is an issue that particularly affects rural communities . One solution has been to investigate alternative bank branch models , like shared banking hubs . In communities that are not large enough to sustain any one bank or financial institution , multiple different operators contribute to a shared space where services are provided jointly by competing institutions .
There are now calls for more of these shared spaces to slow down the discontinuation of physical banking services . Mark Aldred , retail banking expert at Auriga , says : “ The call to accelerate the roll out of shared hubs is a timely reminder of the slow pace and limited ambition of those charged with protecting access to cash and other banking services . It seems that the undue haste with which branches are removed from communities is not balanced with any obvious urgency to provide an alternative .”
However , he also admits there are problems with the current scheme : “ The model adopted to date is slow to roll out and limited in scope . The sponsors and stakeholders of the shared hub initiative must explore different models like those used in other countries , such as Spain , which is seeing major investment in advisors and adapted technology to help elderly customers .
“ There are proven models that could be more rapidly deployed in existing spaces to provide an even wider range of replacement services from all providers , including important face-to-face encounters for those who value them most . There is also some timidity in how these hubs work with individual bank brands providing face-to-face services on a rota .
“ Banks will say face-to-face services are costly to deliver . Given rising costs , this is true , but there are imaginative alternatives like secure in-branch video and voice banking to access skilled financial advisers that can deliver personalised services while reducing operational costs .”
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