Face-to-face Banking Services

Baroness Kramer Excerpts

Thursday 18th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for that question. We must take into consideration that 93% of adults now use online banking, but the Government still take access to face-to-face banking seriously. We have set a target of 350 banking hubs across the country through this Parliament, and 239 are already operational—including seven in Northern Ireland—with more in the pipeline. The figure of 350 is not a ceiling, and there is the potential for more to open, including in Northern Ireland. The Access to Banking Services review is currently in consultation, is open to the public and, I understand, is very popular. The consultation is attracting a lot of attention, and I therefore encourage the noble Lord to send comments to the review via the Government’s website. They would love to hear from him and, in fact, from every other noble Lord.

[Baroness Kramer (LD)]

My Lords, the tech companies are rapidly moving into the banking space—digital money, wallets, payments, payroll, savings and investments. Will the Government insist that these tech players contribute to the costs of interoperability, inclusion and face-to-face services, and not get a free ride?

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

The noble Baroness raises a valid point. We must wait for the results of this review to see what it says. It is important that we have an enabling clause in the Financial Services and Markets Bill, and that we are able to implement the recommendations of that report as soon as possible.