The Fort Worth Press - Scottish town welcomes banking lifeline

USD -
AED 3.673042
AFN 70.72223
ALL 92.599072
AMD 387.699673
ANG 1.801525
AOA 872.636041
ARS 928.11083
AUD 1.527417
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.70397
BAM 1.800788
BBD 2.018268
BDT 117.449912
BGN 1.80187
BHD 0.376768
BIF 2879.714202
BMD 1
BND 1.343271
BOB 6.90741
BRL 5.656104
BSD 0.999558
BTN 83.686837
BWP 13.544122
BYN 3.271304
BYR 19600
BZD 2.014861
CAD 1.38295
CDF 2865.000362
CHF 0.883665
CLF 0.034333
CLP 947.340396
CNY 7.250404
CNH 7.263175
COP 4033.18
CRC 528.506187
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 101.519127
CZK 23.341604
DJF 177.997938
DKK 6.87404
DOP 59.166912
DZD 134.339091
EGP 48.263969
ERN 15
ETB 57.788837
EUR 0.91975
FJD 2.25895
FKP 0.77056
GBP 0.777122
GEL 2.703861
GGP 0.77056
GHS 15.492335
GIP 0.77056
GMD 67.75039
GNF 8614.466706
GTQ 7.746628
GYD 209.091411
HKD 7.80637
HNL 24.748637
HRK 6.90795
HTG 131.942398
HUF 360.23504
IDR 16304.15
ILS 3.661175
IMP 0.77056
INR 83.74465
IQD 1309.516136
IRR 42105.000352
ISK 138.060386
JEP 0.77056
JMD 156.351282
JOD 0.708704
JPY 153.76704
KES 129.940385
KGS 84.040604
KHR 4100.066293
KMF 454.225039
KPW 900.00035
KRW 1384.870383
KWD 0.30585
KYD 0.833019
KZT 473.514111
LAK 22170.249988
LBP 89514.93946
LKR 302.886607
LRD 195.317104
LSL 18.248239
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.830215
MAD 9.845499
MDL 17.743198
MGA 4549.388627
MKD 56.737719
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3450.000346
MOP 8.037659
MRU 39.593768
MUR 46.820378
MVR 15.350378
MWK 1733.297731
MXN 18.463039
MYR 4.657504
MZN 63.899991
NAD 18.248239
NGN 1596.000344
NIO 36.79287
NOK 11.027315
NPR 133.898976
NZD 1.698456
OMR 0.384843
PAB 0.999558
PEN 3.757182
PGK 3.921442
PHP 58.501038
PKR 278.208419
PLN 3.936692
PYG 7569.423984
QAR 3.645997
RON 4.579204
RSD 107.790402
RUB 85.972867
RWF 1314.3599
SAR 3.751623
SBD 8.475946
SCR 13.614743
SDG 586.000339
SEK 10.82125
SGD 1.342604
SHP 0.77056
SLE 22.847303
SLL 20969.503664
SOS 571.228639
SRD 29.001038
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.746374
SYP 2512.53037
SZL 18.245433
THB 35.903649
TJS 10.595829
TMT 3.55
TND 3.101045
TOP 2.385104
TRY 32.944904
TTD 6.785139
TWD 32.813038
TZS 2698.880377
UAH 41.03869
UGX 3728.086329
UYU 40.24306
UZS 12629.252797
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 36.560866
VND 25315
VUV 118.722038
WST 2.803608
XAF 603.967479
XAG 0.035806
XAU 0.000419
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.753904
XOF 603.967479
XPF 109.810782
YER 250.350363
ZAR 18.285304
ZMK 9001.203587
ZMW 26.114098
ZWL 321.999592
  • SCS

    0.2000

    14.03

    +1.43%

  • RYCEF

    0.1100

    5.68

    +1.94%

  • VOD

    0.2000

    9.47

    +2.11%

  • NGG

    0.9700

    63.62

    +1.52%

  • CMSC

    0.1050

    24.19

    +0.43%

  • RIO

    0.7300

    65.06

    +1.12%

  • RBGPF

    58.8600

    58.86

    +100%

  • AZN

    -0.3900

    78.13

    -0.5%

  • GSK

    0.7900

    39.86

    +1.98%

  • CMSD

    0.1550

    24.405

    +0.64%

  • BCE

    0.1900

    33.36

    +0.57%

  • BCC

    5.7500

    141.04

    +4.08%

  • RELX

    0.5400

    46.54

    +1.16%

  • BTI

    0.4300

    35.16

    +1.22%

  • JRI

    -0.1300

    12.41

    -1.05%

  • BP

    0.0700

    35.25

    +0.2%

Scottish town welcomes banking lifeline
Scottish town welcomes banking lifeline

Scottish town welcomes banking lifeline

Donna Corrigan pops into her local supermarket to pay OneBanks a visit, laden with a heavy box of coins to deposit into her bank account.

Text size:

After the closure of its last bank branch in 2018, the Scottish town of Denny has welcomed a hi-tech startup offering everyday banking services inside the town's Co-op grocery store.

Looking onto shelves filled with Heinz baked beans and Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs, OneBanks' kiosk -- comprising staffed counter services, a cash machine and two computer tablets -- opened in late 2020.

The kiosk offers Denny's 8,000 inhabitants an alternative to traditional bank branches after the rise of online banking allowed lenders battered by the global financial crisis more than a decade ago to save costs by permanently closing outlets.

This is continuing to occur in big numbers.

Among Britain's biggest banks, HSBC and Lloyds last month said they would close a further 129 branches combined as customers increasingly switched to online banking during the pandemic.

OneBanks, which has raised around five million pounds ($6.6 million, six million euros) from various investors, acts as a go-between for more than 30 banks and their customers.

- 'Like a regular bank' -

The OneBanks kiosk "can do everything -- it's like a regular bank for me", Corrigan, 40, told AFP.

"I'm not a business, I'm just a normal customer who just wants to withdraw cash. So it's useful for me."

Behind the counter, a staff member drops spare change into a money-counting machine while making small talk.

OneBanks gives customers physical access to banking services for free. Banks subscribe to the startup's services to connect with their clients.

Customers can deposit or withdraw cash and pay bills, while advisors provide help to the less tech-savvy.

The disappearance of Denny's banks left inhabitants with a 20-minute drive to the nearest branches in Cumbernauld, Falkirk or Stirling near to Glasgow.

British consumer group Which? predicts about 5,000 UK bank branches, around half the total, will have disappeared between 2015 and 2022, with Scotland worst affected.

- Dependent on cash -

Swathes of Britain's population remain dependent on cash, despite the surging popularity of both internet use and contactless payments during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Royal Society of Arts charity estimates almost 20 percent of Britons -- particularly the elderly and those in rural areas -- would find it hard to cope without cash.

Yet in Denny's neighbouring town of Bridge of Allan, there is not a branch in sight.

The last bank "closed about four years ago", said hardware store manager Jennifer Wilson.

"A lot of our customers prefer to pay in cash to keep an eye on what they're spending," she added.

Wilson takes 40 percent of payments in cash.

- 'Cold and sterile' -

Retired university professor Richard Kilborn laments the lack of human contact now that Bridge of Allan's three branches have vanished.

"As a member of the older generation, you get used to certain changes, but I also actually relished the person-to-person contact within the bank," he told AFP.

"Now things have become cold and sterile."

OneBanks hopes to change that with plans to roll out about 15 additional UK banking kiosks by the end of the year, on top of the three that it has in Scotland.

The group also has international ambitions.

"The problem that banks have -- in terms of needing to close branches but also still needing to have some sort of physical presence -- is a global problem," OneBanks founder and chief executive Duncan Cockburn told AFP.

"And therefore I really do see OneBanks as a global solution."

The broader UK finance sector is working towards addressing the problem.

Top lenders like Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest have agreed to fund alternative solutions.

The industry tested various options including OneBanks kiosks. It also wants to improve post office facilities and has trialled banking hub services in conjunction with lenders.

J.Ayala--TFWP