Following the recent closure of the Lloyds and Halifax branches in Havant precinct, a Banking Hub has recently been announced (HBC website 19 February ). I am surprised and delighted about this as I had been told by two Lloyds Bank employees (from very different parts of the company) that there will not be a Banking Hub in Havant while there is still a branch of Nationwide. This story also made it into the Portsmouth News: An additional cashpoint/ATM in a safe location, hopefully in the town centre, is to be welcomed.
Points to Consider
You may have read my earlier posts about the loss of banking services. I am used to helping people get to a bank, so they can keep control of their money and hence their independence. I also regularly go to the bank to pay utility bills – by handing over a cheque and paying-in slip – and get cash for some older people who now find it difficult to get to the bank themselves then reimburse me by cheque.
Online is not for everyone and never will be. It could be lack of confidence, dexterity, eyesight, or availability of online technology. It costs nothing to go into a bank, engage with a human and obtain a receipt for a transaction, whereas a laptop/phone and an internet connection cost a lot of money and carries risk. Bank closures are failing a significant group of people.
Thankfully I am still mobile, I can plan my time and can afford to go to Chichester when I need to get to a bank. That’s not an option available to everyone and it’s very different to there being a local bank that I walk past several times a week.
Yes, I could get a bus out to Waterlooville from Havant, where there are still Lloyds, Halifax and Santander branches with cashier services, but there’s little else to do there other than get a bus back! None of these bank branches is easy to get to if mobility is a problem. Many bank customers will have already caught the bus into Havant, which is why the now-closed Havant branches were so very important.
There is a basic Barclays offering in Havant Library however that’s for ‘help with money management, our products, services and transactions that don’t involve cash or cheques.’
Cashier Service is Critical.
Cash is Vital – preferably in smaller denominations to reimburse for bits of shopping and newspapers. Cashpoint machines that only dispense £20 notes don’t help (who can give change of a £20 note if you’ve bought a pint of milk for a neighbour?).
A Banking Hub must be able to cash and pay in cheques and provide cash, often in significant amounts (£200 – £500) as it is no longer possible to get to the bank so easily and frequently. Due to the Lloyds/Halifax closure, Havant lost four of the five cashpoints in the town centre. Waitrose still gives cashback up to £50 – however this is not guaranteed and depends on if there is cash in the till. This often wasn’t possible in the lead up to Christmas due to demand as many people gift a £10 or £20 note in a greetings card. (Tesco no longer offers cashback.)
A Banking Hub must be in an Accessible Location, ideally on the ground floor and preferably with safe drop-off or parking close by. The Lloyds Bank in Havant (and the Lloyds in Southsea which closed June 2025) was well appointed. It should be possible to park and assist someone with limited mobility, a wheelchair or walking frame to get to the Hub and use the facilities. The Hub should also be close to public transport to support those coming into Havant from beyond Emsworth and Hayling Island. This suggests a location near to or in the Meridian Centre. The Hub itself should feel safe to use, so needs to feel like a bank. Accessibility ramps, hearing loops and proper height counters are assumed.
The HBC website post says the Hub will provide services ‘…. such as cash withdrawals, depositing cash and cheques, and paying utility bills, as well as a community banker service, allowing customers to speak with their own bank about more complicated matters on specific days.’ It’s the small print which will be important. Many community banking services do not provide all this – they are there to help customers to do banking on their phone/iPad and do not have any cash or payment facilities.
It would be a bonus if there is some space where matters could be discussed privately without people milling around so the customer can hear, concentrate, and not worry about being overheard or that their shopping is about to be nicked.
Key requirements of a banking hub:
It needs to be in central Havant, close to public transport links and with nearby parking. I assume the Council will be using the ‘empty shop’ scheme for this purpose.
We need to know which banks will be represented and whether all transaction types for each of the supported banks can be handled on all days the Hub is open.
Will I be able to pay utility bills, using completed paying-in slips and a cheques, over the counter on any day, irrespective of which bank is operating on that day and at that time, without incurring handling charges?
Will payments happen then, or are they batched-up for later processing? This is important as postal bills often arrive after the ‘pay before date’. I see a neighbour once or twice a week when I can check the post that’s come and help with cheque writing. I then plan when I can get to bank and this already adds several days to the process.
Believe it or not, her telephone has been cut off twice in the past couple of years due to these delays, even though the customer is recorded as being vulnerable. The customer doesn’t want money leaving their account for bills they haven’t seen – there have been several instances of faulty utility meters that have taken a lot of effort to resolve.
General services needed:
- Pay-in cash and cheques.
- Make cash withdraws – £10, £5 notes and £2, £1 coin and issue receipts.
- Make payments – e.g. utility bills using paying-in slips/cheques, or authorise a direct payment. Confirm that these payments will happen that day and are not bundled up to be processed days later. This is important as paper bills often arrive late due to postal delays leaving minimal time for the payment process.
- Transfer funds between accounts. In particular, between savings and current accounts. This is often vital to ensure an imminent Direct Debit will be covered.
- Set-up, update, delete and make Standing Orders/Direct Debit payments.
- Provide/issue statements and other paperwork – for example, interest statements.
- Open / Close accounts.
There are other more complex matters which may or may not be handled at a Hub:
- Support Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) authorisation and transactions
- Support set-up/management of Executor Accounts
- Provide general assistance – unauthorised payments, fraud and so on.
Other reference links
Earlier posts on HCS about local banking::
https://havantcivicsociety.uk/2025/10/15/waterlooville-two-havant-nil/
https://havantcivicsociety.uk/2025/09/27/counting-down-the-weeks-to-the-last-bank-in-town/
https://havantcivicsociety.uk/2024/08/11/disappearing-banks/
Generic information on Banking Hubs:
https://www.cashaccess.co.uk/hubs/
LINK – Original assessments – Havant Lloyds and Halifax Branches – proposing closure:
https://www.link.co.uk/media/h3uhyzzs/havant-lloyds.pdf
https://www.link.co.uk/media/w1plrsex/havant-halifax.pdf
Havant Civic Society 