FALLING numbers of customers have been blamed by Lloyds Bank for a decision to close its Wellington branch in September.
Lloyds, which is the last bank in the town following the previous closures of HSBC, Barclays, and NatWest, said it had conducted an ‘in depth review’ of the branch.
It said the number of transactions for personal users had fallen by 50 per cent between 2017 and 2022 and by 58 per cent for business customers over the same period.
But the bank’s statistics were criticised as misleading by town Cllr Zoe Barr, who said the five-year statistic period took in the two pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 when national lockdowns meant few businesses were able to serve customers in person.
Cllr Barr, who represents Rockwell Green ward, said: “Lloyds are also conveniently ignoring the fact that even after banks were allowed to reopen they still kept the Wellington branch shut because they sent staff to work in Taunton instead.
“Then, they went several months with what seemed random opening days and times as sometimes they had staff and sometimes they did not, meaning customers did not know from day to day if the bank would be open.
“I am sure many local people will also recall the debacle where they took a number of months to repair an internal door and in the meantime they locked the lobby containing the cash machine so customers were not able to access it outside opening hours.
“Added to this is the reduction in service they have imposed so that if you want to go in and see a manager about specific services you have to book a time when they can send somebody over from Taunton.
“No wonder they have seen fewer customers, and it seems now with hindsight that this may be what they wanted so they could justify closing down.
“Lloyds has disrespected our town and has done our community a great disservice.
“Had they given it another couple of years to compare pre and post-Covid figures and the graph had still shown the same kind of decline then it may have been more understandable, although no less disappointing.”
Lloyds said in a letter to Wellington customers the number of personal and business users making transactions at its cashpoint machine had fallen by 59 and 63 per cent, respectively, over the 2017-22 period.
It said 60 per cent of personal customers had also used other Lloyds branches in the previous year, a figure which increased to 77 per cent when internet and telephone banking was included, while nearly a quarter had used a Post Office.
The bank said it would engage with the local community and give an overview of the feedback it received in a final ‘closing branch review’.
It planned to consult with local MP Rebecca Pow and representatives from the Post Office, Somerset Chamber of Commerce, Mental Health UK, Alzheimer's Society, and Age UK.
The bank said: “Like many other high street businesses, we have seen people using our branches less frequently in recent years as more customers choose to do most of their everyday banking online.
“We are responding to the way our customers use our branches.
“We will continue to invest in our branch network, but we have to make sure our branches are where customers need and use them most.
“As a result, we have made the difficult decision to close this branch because customers are using it less often.
“In addition, the majority of customers are also using alternative ways to bank.”
Lloyds area director Julie Scorer said a banking hub was planned for Wellington where Lloyds customers, and those of other banks, could do their everyday banking and where a ‘community banker’ would be available to talk to one day a week.
Cllr Barr pointed out, however, that plans for a banking hub were only triggered after Lloyds decided to close and were unlikely to be in place until several months after the proposed closure.