The TSB & Lloyds Bank relaunch news and information board

[thegeek]

I don't know what the churn rate is, but my gut feeling is that most people get a bank account set up for them as a child and stick that brand out of general inertia rather than any actual brand loyalty. Current accounts have been much of a muchness for so long and if you don't have to interact with your bank very often, the chances are you've got no good reason to switch.

In this case, TSB are probably aware that even a branch closure isn't enough to encourage people to move to a different bank, so why put in the effort to put some niceties in the letter?

[Beep]

TSB just feels like a bit of a shambles nowadays.

I note that in the last few months they've rolled out a new brand style which is a lot less classy than the clean Helvetica they'd had since launch. In the process - they managed to shatliff their own logo on online banking: https://internetbanking.tsb.co.uk/perso ... in/#/login
(it's been this way for months at this point)

The new debit cards are classy, but just about everything else is a mess. Rumours continue that Sabadell are trying to offload them, but it doesn't seem to be moving very fast.

The brand doesn't seem well managed at all; from their launch with the Patrick Stewart narrated story advert to now everything looks a bit hodge podge.

The font they used to use was Akzidenz-Grotesk Pro, not Helvetica but that's just me being a pedant - it looked a lot nicer than their current offering. The new cards look very nice though but their website and brand doesn't.

[BBC TV Centre]

Lets be honest though, they don't care about the staff in the branch any more than any other corporate does. If it suits the business to redeploy they will, if it doesn't they won't. If they tacked onto your letter something like 'at TSB our branch team are front and centre of our passion for customer service. We have strived to strived to find all of them alternative positions at your new local branch or elsewhere within the TSB family' or some other trite load of bollocks which translates to 'a lucky one or two got to move to a branch up the road because it suited the business to do that, a few got offered a job 25 miles away in the full knowledge they couldn't take it, the rest were let go' would this really have made a big difference to you?

I mean you're not wrong as such. It's just when they slowly "rationalised" the branches in Dundee from 8 to 3 you could imagine the staff were punted to other branches and then natural wastage reduced the numbers back down.

Tesco certainly made a massive fuss when Sports Direct ended their lease on the Tesco Metro about how they'd redeployed everyone elsewhere. Yes higher employee numbers mean you can absorb extra staff easier but they were *very* vocal on that point.

When its a branch in a rural town with about 3/4 staff its somewhat a more personal touch and even a cursory "we're working with our branch team to find them new opportunities" would have sufficed. Would it have been disingenuous? Perhaps. But not mentioning it all seemed callous.

I suppose the template format was written by some suit in marketing or operations so probably wouldn't care or crossed their mind.

The nearest TSB branch to me certainly has that 90s Lloyds TSB vibe for sure, with the chintzy carpet, abundance of wood and next to no machines for paying in/managing the account or facilities for accessing online/telephone services.

Won't surprise me if that branch was up for the chop too eventually. It really has nothing going for it.

Not sure if anyone's noticed but HSBC have a habit of locking out the cash machines outside branch operating hours (certainly in Central London), and then closing the branch down citing lack of visits and usage of the cash machine.

Well no bloody wonder no one uses the machine because you lock it out and have opening hours betwen 1000 and 1005 each day (alright, the last is exaggerated somewhat, but you get the point).

[WillPS]

As of April 1st this year, they have closed the branch completely because they say they don't have enough footfall. I wonder why?

Today they have announced that they will open "pop-up" branches in many rural towns, including this one. I can't quite see the point of that, as the remaining people I know, who had accounts there, closed them in time for April 1st.

Even if you wanted to, that "pop up branch" won't be able to help you with deposits or withdrawals. The only purpose it seems to serve is for people like my grandmother who still pay their utility bills in branch.

Lets be honest though, they don't care about the staff in the branch any more than any other corporate does. If it suits the business to redeploy they will, if it doesn't they won't. If they tacked onto your letter something like 'at TSB our branch team are front and centre of our passion for customer service. We have strived to strived to find all of them alternative positions at your new local branch or elsewhere within the TSB family' or some other trite load of bollocks which translates to 'a lucky one or two got to move to a branch up the road because it suited the business to do that, a few got offered a job 25 miles away in the full knowledge they couldn't take it, the rest were let go' would this really have made a big difference to you?

I mean you're not wrong as such. It's just when they slowly "rationalised" the branches in Dundee from 8 to 3 you could imagine the staff were punted to other branches and then natural wastage reduced the numbers back down.

At least Dundee city centre still has a TSB. From later this month the last remaining TSB in Nottingham city centre will close on the grounds of low usage, with 2 branches remaining on suburban high streets. Strikes me as being a decision made by accountants rather than a sensible rationalisation to large centres as competitors like Nationwide and Natwest/RBS have done.

I don't know what the churn rate is, but my gut feeling is that most people get a bank account set up for them as a child and stick that brand out of general inertia rather than any actual brand loyalty. Current accounts have been much of a muchness for so long and if you don't have to interact with your bank very often, the chances are you've got no good reason to switch.

In this case, TSB are probably aware that even a branch closure isn't enough to encourage people to move to a different bank, so why put in the effort to put some niceties in the letter?

Exceedingly low, which is why banks will often pay £100s to get you to switch to them. Of course, the customers most likely to stay are not the ones who might be tempted by joining bonuses - which is why I'm surprised banks mostly do little to reward loyalty.

Not sure if anyone's noticed but HSBC have a habit of locking out the cash machines outside branch operating hours (certainly in Central London), and then closing the branch down citing lack of visits and usage of the cash machine.

Well no bloody wonder no one uses the machine because you lock it out and have opening hours betwen 1000 and 1005 each day (alright, the last is exaggerated somewhat, but you get the point).

I haven't noticed this - I'm sure I've used the HSBC cash machines in Nottingham outside hours, but it might have been in the morning after staff had arrived but before the doors were opened.

What I have noticed is that supermarkets are removing cash machines at quite a rate now - Tesco seem to be completely removing all the ones which have now been 'out of service to assist with social distancing' for over a year. JS are also cutting back on them - seemingly most of the branches of Argos which had them added have now had them removed, as well as supermarkets losing 1 where they previously had a bank of 2 or 3 machines.

With LINK fees reducing, cash usage reducing and ATM raids rising I guess they just aren't worth the trouble any more.

[BBC TV Centre]

At least Dundee city centre still has a TSB. From later this month the last remaining TSB in Nottingham city centre will close on the grounds of low usage, with 2 branches remaining on suburban high streets. Strikes me as being a decision made by accountants rather than a sensible rationalisation to large centres as competitors like Nationwide and Natwest/RBS have done.

I suppose there has to be some method behind the madness. City centre rents and business rates are probably extortianate and they are not getting a return on their investment as no-one is coming in. Doesn't make sense to pay the salaries of X amount staff per branch, as well as associated costs there are no clients through the door.

The thing of supermarkets removing cash machines has some weight.

Ironically covid had given them an reason to trial certain concepts (such as a stronger approach to cashless) or places where they can cut costs - after all, maintaining 3 cash machines (insurance, maintainence, sending a securicor van to fill) vs just having 1 (and the occasional complaint because they removed the other machines) and having more people pay by card has a cost and time benefit.

Also a lot of the hardware was no doubt becoming end of life (one upon a time I saw one of the cash machines reboot, it running Windows XP (!).

In my local Tesco they had 3 cash machines. They boarded the middle one over and removed it, and the right hand side one was out of operation due to 'social distancing' (even though it probably had about 6ft between that and the next due to the above boarded up one). They removed that one recently and replaced the remaining one on the left with newer hardware, leaving 1 machine.

[all new Phil]

Genuine question - what do people actually go to the bank for these days? I can’t remember the last time I went to mine. I don’t even know where my nearest one is.

[Pete]

Genuine question - what do people actually go to the bank for these days? I can’t remember the last time I went to mine. I don’t even know where my nearest one is.

Cheques was, to be fair, my only reason. And I once was given £1,500 in cash for an old car that I needed to pay in and didn't want to deal with that much money using the envelopes and machines.

The removal of the machines annoys me though as you'd think they could mimic the continental approach of having a small unit with only machines that you have to swipe yourself in using your debit card. And yes I'd noticed Tesco have cut down to one machine where they used to have two.

I'm very much a cash-free person. The only times I really deal with it any more are (were) for the office milk money and haircuts. But the barbers now takes cards and I bought a SumUp reader so I can take debit card payments for the milk. It was like £14 to buy and the transaction fee is lower than the sheer effort of me chasing up the "I forgot cash" crowd for two weeks afterwards.

Another issue with TSB, they didn't have club/society accounts (for non registered charities) running when I got this so I had to set up my "sports and social fund" business account with RBS for the reader to pay into.

TBH these days if I do get cash I'd either give it to a friends mum (who'd transfer me the equiv from her app) bc her home hairdresser only took cash, or if it was coins I'd just throw it into the self scan till in tesco and pay the difference on card.

[WillPS]

Genuine question - what do people actually go to the bank for these days? I can’t remember the last time I went to mine. I don’t even know where my nearest one is.

In the last year, I visited the actual bank I think twice, once to deposit a large cheque (all the other go in via one of the apps) and another time I realised I had something like £400 of cash in my wallet from all the errands I'd run and been paid for in notes. I could have done either of these things at the Post Office but with deposits I feel more comfortable doing it in branch so I can see the deposit straight away.

A few times I've withdrawn £2 coins to tip takeaway drivers with - that is literally the only thing I actually use cash for regularly nowadays, and even then only when its the takeaway sending their own driver rather than an Uber Eats courier (when I'll tip through the app as I have confidence it'll get to the person bringing it to me).

I normally do that at the Post Office on the odd occasion I sell something on eBay which is too big for the letterbox or too valuable. Even that is a fairly rare occurrence now parcel post boxes are a thing.

[Martin Phillp]

The last time I went to a bank was to cash some RBS bank notes in a self-service Natwest two years ago. Otherwise I do all my banking from home, which has been especially handy during the lockdowns.

Referring to the ATM withdrawals from Sainsbury's, they reduced the ATMs at one superstore locally from three to one which also has an Argos, while another superstore with an Argos has kept all three!

In general locally ATMs have been substantially reduced. After Santander and Barclays closed on the same day, the only free ATMs left are one at Sainsbury's and two at the train station which are provided by Bank Machine.

Lloyds slightly closer to home closed in March after being reprieved for nearly a year due to Covid, which leaves only one free ATM which is at Sainsbury's Local. The other charges 99p at an off licence.

[thegeek]

Genuine question - what do people actually go to the bank for these days? I can’t remember the last time I went to mine. I don’t even know where my nearest one is.

I can only think of a few times I've needed to use branches over the past few years: withdrawing some wads of cash to pay unscrupulous builders; applying for a mortgage that was apparently only available if you took advice; and opening savings accounts for the children. On one of the latter occasions, Halifax decided to turn it into a whole 'financial health check' - the appointment took an hour, including having the terms and conditions read to me then summarised in a video on the adviser's screen. I was not impressed.

[WillPS]

In general locally ATMs have been substantially reduced. After Santander and Barclays closed on the same day, the only free ATMs left are one at Sainsbury's and two at the train station which are provided by Bank Machine.

Those 'Note Machine' ones do my head in. You have to tell the thing 3 times you don't want it to tell you your balance. I presume they get some pennies for this but it's bloody terrible UX.

On one of the latter occasions, Halifax decided to turn it into a whole 'financial health check' - the appointment took an hour, including having the terms and conditions read to me then summarised in a video on the adviser's screen. I was not impressed.

I had something similar with Natwest recently. The whole thing seemed to be geared at selling me a mortgage, which I currently do not have an interest in (and if I did, wouldn't limit myself to 1 lender for). I wonder if the reason they have to position them in such a stupid way is a workaround; it definitely doesn't feel like something which is particularly beneficial to consumers.