New banking hub to be set up in Market Drayton after announcement that NatWest branch will close

LINK, who provide the UK’s cash access and ATM network, has announced it will bring a banking hub service to the North Shropshire town, aiming to make it easier for residents and businesses to access banking services.

It is part of the company's wider commitment to protect access to cash, and comes after NatWest has announced it will be closing its Market Drayton branch, on a date to be confirmed. 

NatWest will be closing 53 of its branches in total.

The bank said their decision to close a branch is "always difficult" and not a decision they "take lightly", but reported its findings in Market Drayton.

NatWest reported: "Comparing October 2019 and October 2024, counter transactions for personal customers have decreased by 44 per cent.

"71 per cent of personal customers using the branch also chose to use Online Banking or our mobile app between November 2023 to October 2024."

A factsheet on the branch's closure added: "LINK has confirmed that a banking hub is recommended in Market Drayton. Until the Banking Hub is ready to open, we are committed to keeping this branch open for our customers. 

"We want to ensure access to cash is protected wherever we have customers. We work with LINK to carry out cash access assessments in places which might need better cash access services.

"This means we ask LINK to conduct independent access to cash assessments whenever we close a branch or remove an ATM. LINK may also conduct assessments where cash services offered by other providers are removed or where they are requested by the local community."

LINK said its banking hub will be a shared banking space, similar to a traditional bank branch, but available to everyone. 

When opened, the 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. 

Additionally, LINK said there will be private spaces where customers can speak to community bankers from their own bank for more "complicated matters" which require specialist knowledge or privacy. 

The banks are expected to work on a rotational basis, meaning there will be staff from different banks available on different days, according to LINK. 

To date, the British interbank network has recommended for 181 banking hubs to be set up.

It said that the banking hub in Market Drayton will become the second hub to be recommended in Shropshire by LINK, with the first hub in Whitchurch "expected to open soon". 

Adrian Roberts, Deputy CEO at LINK said: "We’re pleased to recommend this new hub in Market Drayton. Cash remains vital to many people and businesses. Not everyone can access digital services, so banking hubs help people who need to access cash or prefer to do their banking face-to-face."