Santander to close bank branch in Lymington High Street leaving customers furious
NEWS that the Lymington branch of Santander is to shut as part of a nationwide bank closure programme has been met with anger by customers.
Many only learnt the news on Wednesday when posters went up in the window of the High Street branch telling customers it would be closing on 25th July.
Some bank users claimed they had been told they would have to use the internet to bank, or go to Lymington post office to withdraw and deposit money.
Pensioner Margaret Dust (87) described it as “absolutely disgusting” that the branch is one of 140 across the country that Santander has decided must go.
She said: “I am shocked, to be honest. This news is just awful. I will have no choice but to change banks. The nearest Santander branch is New Milton but I have no transport of my own and I can’t rely on buses to get there and back as they are unreliable and I am disabled.
“It’s just ridiculous, this branch is always really busy.”
Santander announced on Wednesday that it is closing nearly one in five of its branches in the UK, putting 1,200 jobs at risk. It said branch transactions have fallen by 23% over the past three years, while transactions via digital channels almost doubled over the same period.
Staff at the Lymington branch were overheard telling customers that they only learnt of the closure themselves on Tuesday.
One counter clerk said: “We are as shocked as you and we have no idea what is going to happen to our jobs.”
Customers arriving at the bank admitted they were baffled at the news.
One couple said they too will be moving banks: “We are absolutely livid. We were with Abbey National before they were bought out by Santander, so all in all we have been with them for nearly 60 years – now this!
“What a way to treat loyal customers.”
People arriving at the branch on Wednesday were being given Santander leaflets entitled Understanding Your Branch Closure.
Among them were the results of a review of the way customers in Lymington were using their branch which, according to Santander, showed that 88% of them already used other ways to complete their banking other than going into the branch.
A further 36% also used other Santander branches including the one at New Milton and Christchurch, both of which will remain open.
Another 56% were already using online or telephone banking services.
In the leaflet Santander pointed out that customers could use Natwest and HSBC cash machines in Lymington for free, while at the town’s post office they could do “everyday” banking including paying in cash and cheques.
They also told customers it was 6.2 miles to the New Milton branch and 12 to Christchurch, and there were buses to both.
One customer, who used to work in banking herself, said: “They undertook their research from April to September which is when the town is full of tourists so no wonder they found so many people used other branches other than Lymington.”
She added: “The research should have lasted at least a year and I think the result would have been very different. To tell people they can use the post office is just nonsense; the queue there is always huge anyway.
“There are also a lot of retired and disabled people in Lymington who might not be able to understand internet banking but will have lots of trouble getting to New Milton.”
Susan Allen, head of retail and business banking for Santander, said: “The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels.
“As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity.
“We will support customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs. We are also working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles for those impacted wherever possible.”
