The hub, based at John’s Church Hall in Church Road, is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Each high street bank is represented on site on a rotating basis.
On the day a customer’s own bank is in the hub, they can speak privately to a community banker about more complex matters including payments, account management and online banking.
The schedule is:
-
Monday: NatWest
-
Tuesday: HSBC
-
Wednesday: Santander
-
Thursday: Barclays
-
Friday: Lloyds Bank
The hub has been running for eight months and will transfer permanently to Sidcup High Street later this year.
Customers do not need to visit on the day their own bank is present.
The hub’s counter is open to all major banks and building societies, offering services such as paying in cash and cheques, withdrawing money, checking balances, paying utility bills, topping up gas and electricity, and providing change services for registered businesses.
Sidcup Partners BID, said: “We’re proud to have played a part in bringing the Banking Hub to Sidcup—by giving up our office space, we made room for something bigger: progress and inclusion.”
Banking hubs involve banks sharing facilities in a single space, with staff from different providers rotating throughout the week.
They also include private rooms where customers can speak to community bankers from their own bank for more complicated or sensitive matters.
The rise of hubs follows significant reductions in traditional bank branches in recent years, raising concerns about access to cash and in-person services.
Older people, those on lower incomes, and people with vulnerabilities are often the most affected.
MPs have called for a review into the impact of bank branch closures, warning of “significant financial exclusion”.
A Commons motion highlighted the “precipitous decline” of banking facilities over the past 40 years and stressed the effect on vulnerable communities.
Labour MP Ian Lavery told Parliament: “We’ll need to curb the power of the big banks once and for all, we need to start a review into the impact on communities of losing bank branches.
“We need to change the legislation and ensure community factors like face-to-face services are considered when a closure is announced. We need to be bold.”
The MP for Blyth and Ashington added that while the Government’s target of 350 hubs by the end of this Parliament “might sound impressive”, the UK needs “10 times the amount being talked about”.
