Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays team up for business banking hubs
The first hub for SMEs will open its doors in Perry Barr, Birmingham today (11 March). The pilot will also see five other shared hubs open across the UK in the coming weeks. No specifics on that.
The hubs will be branded “Business Banking Hub” and they have been designed to enable business customers from the three banks to conduct transactions through a shared facility.
Alison Rose, deputy CEO of NatWest and CEO of NatWest Commercial and Private Banking, says: “We have listened to what our business customers really want from our cash services. It is now more important than ever that we continue to offer innovative services, and we are creating an infrastructure that allows small business owners and entrepreneurs to do what they do best – run their business.”
There have been a lot of branch cuts across the UK, but the pilot is designed to complement their existing branch network.
According to the banks, the hubs have been specifically designed to enable businesses that manage cash and cheque transactions to pay in large volumes of coins, notes and cheques and complete cash exchange transactions.
They will be available on a trial basis to pre-selected business clients in each local area and will offer extended opening times (8am to 8pm) seven days a week.
In other news today, NatWest is piloting biometric fingerprint technology-enabled cards with 200 customers, due to begin in the coming weeks, in partnership with Gemalto.