Dear LPG,  

I am old, which means I am old-fashioned about some things, and I suspect I am not the only one.  One of the things that upsets me is that we are all expected to do our banking online.  I think I am an average 70-something-year-old, and while I am getting better at using the internet, I still make mistakes and can’t afford financial ones.  I also think that institutions such as our banks are unfair when they assume that we who can’t do these things online will call upon our friends and children to do them for us.  They have enough of their own problems, and asking all the time forces us to divulge financial information that we should have the right to keep between ourselves and our banks.  But the reality is that there are fewer and fewer branches on our high streets, and the result is that popping to the bank has become a thing of the past.  

Firstly, the distance that most of us now have to travel to the few existing branches makes for a longer journey, which takes much more time, because they are usually in parts of the Borough where it is hardest to travel.  

When I arrive, the average ‘pop’ into my bank means waiting in a queue for about half an hour these days, and there are often many more elderly people in the queue than chairs provided to accommodate their aching legs.   

We oldies have legs that prefer to be on the move rather than just standing, and, without naming names, the only remaining branch of the bank I use is in the middle of Lewisham.  I feel that they should go back to the ticketing system where you take one and are then free to go and do a bit of shopping while you wait because, while your mind is occupied with browsing, your brain will be too busy to feel all that extra strain that the rest of your body is forcing upon those ageing pins.

Money is the driving force behind the banks’ reasons for all the closures.  When I asked, I was told that people don’t use them as much anymore, but I think the queues in the branches nearly always tell a different story. 

Another interesting point is that they are saving our money when they don’t pay for the buildings and extra staff, and judging by the interest return that any saver gets these days, we are missing out there, too. I know it is all a matter of statistics, and you can use those in any way you like, but here is an interesting one.  

I am not saying that we are all average. Still, according to one website I found online, the average over-65-year-old has savings of about £113,600.00 in the bank, while all the other age groups’ average savings mentioned in the survey show a total of £43,061.00, which is less than half that amount.  

So, we are the age group that makes up the majority of people who still feel the need to visit the branch. It is very unfair that person for person, on average, the banks have more of our money than that of any other age group while, in more ways than just financially, we are not being catered for.  

WK, Bellingham

WK shares the website where he found the saving statistics…

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