Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with Cash Access UK on opening banking hubs at weekends.

The Government is committed to supporting the financial services industry’s roll-out of 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament, and industry agreed with my predecessor that they would achieve this. Over 275 hubs have been announced so far, and more than 235 are already open.

Industry has also agreed with my predecessors to improve the services available in banking hubs, including trialling Saturday opening in three locations. Cash Access UK have stated to the Treasury Select Committee that they will consider Saturday opening on a case-by-case basis, where there is a clear demand and need.

The Government understands the importance of banking services to communities and high streets and so on 14 May commissioned an independent Review into Access to Banking Services, to assess whether changes in access to in-person banking services are causing consumer detriment, the scale of any detriment, and who it affects. The Review will consider access to in-person banking for both personal and business customers.

HM Treasury launched the Access to Banking Services Review on 8 June, with the publication of the Call for Evidence. The Call for Evidence will run for six weeks and will close on 20 July. The evidence gathered will inform the development of the Review’s recommendations, and the Chair, Richard Lloyd OBE, is due to publish his findings in October. More information can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/access-to-banking-services-review-call-for-evidence.