Banking push for rural areas

The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) has announced the launch of a campaign to provide better financial services to rural areas.

The Quids In programme will highlight how communities can begin initiatives to improve access to financial services in the countryside.

The CRC's annual State of the Countryside report found only ten per cent of all cashpoints were available in rural areas even though 20 per cent of people live there.

It also said that banks' presence in these areas was low as only one out of eight financial institutions had branches serving customers in those areas.

The watchdog's director of practice Graham Russell stated that people's choice of where to live should not affect the quality of services available to them. He said the department had highlighted initiatives made by local communities to solve the problem and urged the private sector to also come forward with initiatives in this regard.

Mr Russell said: "We are now calling on the private sector to engage more extensively with rural communities and support and encourage future initiatives; government to help promote the value of community-based initiatives and how they can be applied and supported elsewhere; and communities themselves, to come forward with further examples of successful locally-developed solutions."

A good practice exchange event will be held in April to encourage people to share their initiatives. The watchdog's officials will also visit parts of the country to see programmes in place to deal with the lack of financial services and to tackle poverty in rural areas.