We are fortunate on Lewis in that in Stornoway - a town of about 12,000 people - we have 5 banks: Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, TSB, Virgin Money and, of course, the Post Office Bank.
When I came to Lewis nearly half a century ago the banks all had Managers and they were People of Importance in the community as, indeed, were the Deputy Managers and even the Cashiers were well known.
As far as I know there are no Bank Managers in Stornoway now although I assume that all the banks are managed and, on the face of it, very well managed.
I go into the bank quite a lot: partly because I like my bank (the Bank of Scotland), partly because I use my phone to pay for almost everything and therefore need £1 and 50p coins for tips and car parking (on the Island - mainland it's almost all via an app).
Recently I went in to change a large sum of old £20 notes into current currency which had to be done through my bank account. My Canadian visitor was with me (it was actually her money) and, as there was no queue after me (there was the commercial cash counter and another teller anyway) we had a good yarn. I've known the teller (I wonder if they are still called tellers - I bet they are not) since she was a new recruit to the bank as a teenager. Since then she had been in charge of the Tarbert Branch and was now back at her original branch. She was telling me that she will be retiring this year. It made me very aware of my advancing years.
All except one of the 'original' staff from the '70s and '80s will then have retired and the final one will probably depart this year too.
I wonder how much things will change. There will still be some familiar faces but it will be one way. I will know their faces but they won't know who I am.
However, I am hoping that the sense of service will be maintained. When I had a problem with the B of S app on my iPhone recently I just popped in and one of the tellers who knows me found a 'youngster' who was very app aware and she knew exactly what to do. Now that is service.
Makes me quite nostalgic to read this. My main bank no longer handles cash and you can't even go in there now without having made an appointment first. My secondary bank is connected to a chain of grocery stores and you can't visit their office either but one can withdraw some cash via the stores. (No large amounts though, I think.) Possibly there might still be some bank in town where you can just walk in, I I haven't had reason to check lately!
ReplyDeleteFrom what I read, Monica, that's about par for the course here too.
DeleteBanks treat cash as a nuisance. It's the one kind of transaction out of which they don't get cut.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Tasker, it costs them money to handle cash and they pass the costs on of course. So now only businesses wanting to avoid tax and banking cash will accept it. More and more places only accept electronic payment. Changed days.
DeleteWonderful post. Banks here play a similar roll on the community. I am always amazed the cashiers remember my name. They are also always sharp, bright and cheerful.
ReplyDeleteMaywyn, you and I are fortunate. I bet we are in the minority.
DeleteA real bank with real tellers? What a wonderful thing. They are increasingly rare here, which makes it very difficult for especially older people in country areas who aren't tech savvy. Treasure what you have there.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I really am very aware of how fortunate we are.
Deletethecontemplativecat here. I understand the changes that have occurred in bank industries, but here we never form a relationship with the tellers. I am concerned about the changes the US government is going to propose in July. Scary stuff, scary times.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input, contemplativecat. I'd be interested to know what changes are afoot in the US.
DeleteI'm surprised that there still is commercial banking. When I go into my bank here it is sometimes empty. No worries about a line up.
ReplyDeleteRed, when the bank I use was slimming down its staff it actively discouraged people to come into it. I was once asked by a 'helper' to use the outside cash machine. It was pouring and there was a queue. I refused. He was non-plussed and I was served by a cashier. Now there is no such dissuasion but then few people bother going indoors to get cash anyway.
DeleteOur bank had local branches that have been shutting down, one right after another. We have just one branch to serve our town.
ReplyDeleteDebby, 'they' call it progress. Hmmm.
DeleteMy RBS branch here in Brighton closed without saying where I should go in future. I know they are part of the Nat West group, and I have visited them once, but otherwise I am now banking with a cyber-bank. It seems to work OK, but I do miss their share dealing service.
ReplyDeleteCro, I think RBS has closed all its English branches. INDEED i think it was a post of yours that alerted me to the fact come to think of it. In the days when I bought shares I can't recall who I used but my biggest holding was in bank shares. Enough said. But I didn't lose the six figure sums that some of my bank employee friends lost.
DeleteSo good to hear that you still get good service from your bank. I hardly go into our bank anymore. I get cash out at the supermarket if I need cash but I mostly pay by card or phone these days. However, recently we needed to go into the bank to deposit a cheque but we had problems because our cards needed updating. They were pleasant about it but we did have to queue for ages.
ReplyDeleteDiane, I was recently sent a cheque by an organisation that usually pays straight into my bank. I discovered that I can use my phone to pay in cheques. It was simple but more hassle for everyone than a straight bank transfer.
DeleteMy bank is a five minute walk from my house, and it still offers full service at regular business hours, anything from handling cash, foreign currencies, advice on investments, credit arrangements for real estate buyers, insurance, and much more. I sometimes grumble about the 10 € a month my account costs, but I have a personal contact who is always there for me when I need advice, and I can simply walk in and speak to a real person when I need to. My Mum and my sister have changed banks many years ago, but they can only reach then by phone, and their calls are routed to a call center in a town about an hour‘s drive away. I don‘t want that!
ReplyDeleteMeike, I don't have a dedicated charge for my account but I'd pay it if I had to rather than use a call centre and have remote banking. I have no idea what I'd have done (or advised my guest to do) if my bank hadn't been there to change to old notes. It wasn't a sum one could simply abandon!
DeleteOur local bank branches are all closing down now, leaving some elderly residents in the lurch if they are not internet savvy. Local small business owners tell of the extortionate charges they incur for paying cash into their accounts. I suppose some sole traders just don't bother banking cash anymore but just keep it to themselves. I wouldn't blame them.
ReplyDeleteI think that's exactly what happens JayCee and the taxman (and therefore those of us who do pay tax) lose out too.
DeleteYou are fortunate to have banks. The population of our 'village' is 15,000 and all the banks have closed, though the Post Office still operates and there is an ATM at the local Tesco Express and another at the BP garage. I haven't been into a bank for years.
ReplyDeleteJabblog, I make almost all my payments by card, phone or directly via my bank app (in addition to DDs and SOs of course) but I'm very grateful that the bank is there when I need it.
DeleteI am surprised you have this number of banks on your island. Lloyds have closed many branches around here, including their Bank of Scotland ones, so it must surely only be a question of time before closures strike your island. I am happy banking via banking apps but I do like the availability of a bank branch every now and then for pound coins and fivers, and any unforeseen questions that may arise that seem to be impossible to find a person to answer over the phone. As for sole traders they get a raw deal in being told to drive to city centres to bank now instead of to their once handy local branch, parking outside, in dust covered overalls, in a five minute break mid afternoon. All very unsatisfactory state of affairs but this is the way we are going. Humans, cash and speaking, are redundant in the banking world.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Rachel. I think we are safe for a while though because all the banks know that the moment one closes they will lose all their customers to one that stays open.
DeleteI am not sure whether you are familiar with credit unions, but that is where I bank - always have and the service is still friendly, available and impeccable. Despite that I do most of my banking on line, but when I need to go in they are always there with a friendly smile and helpful demeanour. And even a free coffee if I want it!
ReplyDeleteDavid, we have a local Credit Union here but it provides its members with loans at preferential rates rather than acting as a bank so I assume it's different to yours.
DeleteI don't think I have been into a bank in about 10 years and there must be a lot like me because all the local banks are closing down. The other thing that grabbed my attention was a person who worked from teen years to retirement with the same bank. That is incredibly rare these days
ReplyDeleteKylie, it may be the nature of Island life in the last half century that has meant people being in 'jobs for life' that one doesn't find in other places. Mind you I don't think there will be any such thing anywhere in future.
DeleteIt seems banks are a thing of the past around here. I couldn't even tell you where to find a branch of my bank. I know where it used to be but it's been gone for years now. Last time I made contact I was on hold for 43 minutes (strange what my mind chooses to remember), and the person I spoke with finally did help me. Lovely that you have friendly tellers who know you. Lewis may well be the last bastion of good banking service.
ReplyDeletePauline, from what I hear from friends I think you may well be right about this being the last bastion of personal service.
DeleteAh, stories like this just encourage my view that Scotland (my favorite place in all the wide world) is always in the pleasant past... where you know the local bank teller personally and there is a community of people who know their neighbors (for good or ill)... here in NY our bank tellers are about nine years old, and usually have to have someone else overseeing their work. Example: The other day I went to the drive thru to deposit some cash. I filled out the bank deposit slip correctly, and included it with the cash in the little clear plastic container which I *whooshed* through the air tube system to the teller. A few minutes went by, and the speaker next to my elbow came on, and the teller asked "Would you like me to deposit this into YOUR bank account?" I sat there for a minute, trying not to panic, and then I answered "As opposed to whose?" I mean, I had filled out my bank account number quite clearly on the form, as well as how much cash, as well as the actual cash itself, and my name... The teller said "I am new here, and I don't recognize you, so I was wondering if this is your own account you are depositing money into, because if you are trying to deposit money into someone else's account, they need to be here." It was all I could do not to just ask for my money back, drive home, and crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head. Seriously?!? First off, what the hell do they care if someone is depositing money into someone else's account? If someone is trying to take money OUT of someone else's account, then by all means, be concerned. But the last thing a customer wants to hear, after they've just air-ported you a pile of cash, is "I don't recognize you, are you sure you want me to put this into your account?" It's very disconcerting. How I wish that I lived in a world where the tellers were a) well-trained, b) familiar to and with me, and c) older than my socks.
ReplyDeleteSigh.
Oh dear, Marcheline, we live in very different worlds and I know which one I prefer.
DeleteBanking has changed like so many other services, Graham. I recall years ago when bank deposits were completed in person and the amount was posted in a bank book, now you can simply scan a check deposit and have it go into an account. We "bank" at a credit union which does have in person banking, but recently the closest one shut down, so we have to walk a bit farther to the one remaining open in our neighborhood, which really isn't too much of a hardship and more exercise. Most of our bills are paid online and purchases completed with credit cards. Still, there is the occasional need to have cash available for smaller purchases and for places which may not accept a credit card.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Beatrice, I've learned from you and David, above, that credit unions in the US and Canada seem to provide the same facility as banks do here. I'm not sure whether there are similar institutions in the UK because the credit union here just provides loans for its members.
DeleteYour comments on bank cashiers (tellers) that you've known for years reminds me of my experiences with one of the big boys. I had been served well with friendly courtesy for nearly 30 years across a couple of their branches but a change of local management suddenly put a stop to her help with cash withdrawals, and as this was just prior to COVID shutting down the world I haven't been back since. I've transferred my allegiance to the local Post Office, where the manageress hides a really helpful nature behind a gruff exterior.
ReplyDeletePS - comment from Will, for some reason Google doesn't like me any more!
DeleteThanks for your comment, Will. I use the post office in Stornoway (the sub-post office in the village went a good few years ago) a lot and the staff are absolutely brilliant, helpful and friendly.
DeleteBanks are a bit scarce here now - one is expected to do things online or by phone or use the ATM. Even lots of Post Offices no longer exist and we have to make do with agents in bookshops. Appreciate those smiling faces while you can :)
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I'm aware how lucky we are here. The Napier Branch of ASB used to be very helpful (but it helped that The Family knew the Manager!) but the last time I went to the branch in Taradale to get some money because their cash machine outside wasn't working they said I'd have to wait for it to be working again to withdraw cash. Which, I should add, was less than an hour later. I was very taken aback. I don't think I ever went into a branch again. I still use my account although I no longer 'live' in New Zealand and they are always helpful over the phone.
DeleteThe last time I tried to change some cash at my bank (for parking), they couldn't help me. They told me they don't keep cash anymore :)
ReplyDeleteJules, I find that almost unbelievable but, of course, nothing is truly unbelievable these days.
DeleteReading all these comments makes me realize how fortunate I am to have a bank I can go into with real tellers to help me and who know my name!
ReplyDeleteJill, I'm in complete agreement with you. We are the fortunate few.
DeleteI saw this article today - which reminded me I hadnt read your blog for a while as my blog feed wasnt working... lots to catch up on! does this affect you on Lewis??? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12160937/Scottish-islanders-South-Uist-hold-massive-protest-amid-SNP-ferry-fiasco.html
ReplyDeleteHi Fiona. The whole question of ferries to the Scottish Islands on the West coast is extrememly complex because it affects the lives of so many people. The Hebrides are divided into the Inner Hebrides and the Outer Hebrides which are separated from each other by The Minch, The Little Minch and The Sea of The Hebrides). Most are served by ferries run under the name Caledonian MacBrayne (known as Calmac - I won't bother with the complex ins and outs of the Government run setup). There have been horrendous problems for some years now with a shortage of vessels and a massive increase in tourism (which is, as always, a mixed blessing). It can be virtually impossible to get on and off the Island without booking very far in advance. As a tourist that is easy but locals need to be able to get on and off for daily life including hospital and all the usual emergency and personal reasons. As you read in the article there appears to have been a great deal of incompetence involved which doesn't help the people who are inconvenienced and have their daily lives disrupted.
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