Barclays Bank leaders have told Rye Town Council that they “have no immediate plans to close the branch in Rye”, which shortly becomes the only bank branch left in the town.
However they say “we are seeing unprecedented changes in the way people choose to do their banking, with many opting to carry out transactions online or on smartphones or tablets”.
But the council had told the bank, as a result of a proposal moved by Deputy Mayor Rebekah Gilbert, that:
- “There are strong business needs for a bank in the town as family-owned businesses (over 95% of our shops) do not have the time to close their stores to get change, pay in daily cash takings etc, and
- In addition we have a number of individually run public houses and tourist destinations that largely take cash and need somewhere to deposit this daily.”
Her proposal concluded that “a thriving and popular tourist Cinque Port town with no banking facilities would be incredibly damaging to the community as a whole”. Rye News’ previous story about the council debate attracted a number of comments and, while Barclays says it can not provide definitive commitments about any branch, it has promised to contact the council if the situation changes. One nearby branch in a much larger town, which is mainly automated for personal customers, does retain some facilities just for business customers. A mobile bank, which visits some local villages, is unlikely to meet business needs.
Photo: Rye News Library
