New banking hub coming to St Annes as Santander confirms high street branch closure

LINK, the UK’s cash access and ATM network, has today announced a new banking hub for the town, as Santander prepares to shut its branch in St Anne’s Road West.

An exact date has yet to be confirmed but the branch is expected to close sometime this year.

It’s among 95 Santander branches to close across the UK, including the Cleveleys branch in Victoria Road West, which will close its doors on Monday, June 23.

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New St Annes banking hub

But locals and businesses in St Annes will soon benefit from a new banking hub, as part of a wider commitment to protect access to cash and banking services in the town.

The St Annes banking hub will be delivered by Cash Access UK. Over the next few weeks, it will begin to engage with the local community and start to look for potential sites.

The hub is the tenth to be recommended in Lancashire by LINK.

Dr Chris Ashton, Chief Commercial Officer for LINK, added: “While more people are choosing to bank and pay for things digitally, we know that many people still rely on and choose to use cash and face-to-face banking.

“That’s why we’re delighted to recommend the new hub in St Annes. There are almost 150 hubs open across the country and when it opens, the St Annes a banking hub will be vital for the local community and high street.”

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What are banking hubs?

Banking hubs are a shared banking space, similar to a traditional bank branch, but available to everyone.

When opened, the St Annes hub will consist of a counter service operated by Post Office employees, where customers of any bank can withdraw and deposit cash, make bill payments and carry out regular banking transactions.

In addition, there will be private spaces where customers can speak to community bankers from their own bank for more complicated matters that require specialist knowledge or privacy.

The banks will be working on a rotating basis, so there will be staff from different banks available on different days.

LINK has recommended 224 banking hubs to date, and a further 19 hubs have been announced today (Wednesday, March 19).