Banking services are returning to two more communities across south and west Wales – with Mumbles opening its new banking hub this morning and Pembroke Dock confirming its hub will open in early June.
The Mumbles Banking Hub opened its doors for the first time today at Unit 6, Castleton Walk Arcade, Newton Road, Mumbles, SA3 4AX.
The hub will be open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm – with community bankers from Barclays attending on Wednesdays, Lloyds Banking Group on Thursdays and NatWest on Fridays. Monday and Tuesday schedules are still to be confirmed.
Mumbles County Councillor Will Thomas, who confirmed the opening, said it was great news for the community and described it as returning banking services to the village.
The Mumbles hub was first recommended last year after high street banking services continued to disappear from the area, leaving residents and businesses without face-to-face banking locally.
Meanwhile in Pembrokeshire, Pembroke Dock Town Council has confirmed that its new banking hub will be sited in Pembroke Dock library, with an opening date expected in early June.
The council said the exact opening date would be shared in due course and urged residents from across the county to make use of the service.
Banking hubs are a national initiative designed to replace lost high street bank branches with a shared facility, where customers of multiple banks can carry out everyday transactions and speak to their own bank’s community banker on a rotating schedule.
The model has been rolled out across south-west Wales in recent months – with Morriston, Gorseinon, Porthcawl and Ystradgynlais all receiving hubs following community campaigns.
Not every community that has applied for a hub has been successful. Plaid MS Sioned Williams challenged cash access company Link over Pontardawe’s exclusion from the programme – a decision that angered local campaigners.
Banking hubs are operated by Cash Access UK and are recommended by Link, the cash access network, following an assessment of local need.
The assessment takes into account the number of bank branch closures in an area, the availability of alternative cash access points, and the demographics of the local population.
Mumbles and Pembroke Dock both qualify on the grounds of multiple branch closures in recent years, leaving communities without convenient access to in-person banking services.
For Mumbles residents, the hub on Newton Road is open from today. No appointment is needed for general counter services.
For Pembroke Dock residents, further details on the opening date and schedule will be published by the town council in the coming weeks.