News

Scrutiny wants to hear from people affected by the closure of out-of-town bank branches

The Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel launched a Review on the Acceptance of Cash Payments in June 2024.

The objectives of the review are to:

• Explore acceptance of cash payments by businesses in Jersey; 
• Investigate views on the use and acceptance of cash in Jersey;  
• Ascertain impact of ability to access cash; and 
• Identify if there is a need for consideration of Government intervention to require acceptance of cash payments. 

Following the announcement that Lloyds Bank will shut its branch at Les Quennevais in December of this year, the Panel wants to hear from Islanders about the impact its closure will have on their ability to access to cash and other banking services.

At yesterday's Public Hearing with the Jersey Chamber of Commerce, the Panel heard about the increased costs to a business when having to travel about the Island to visit a bank to pay in money.

Chair of the Panel, Deputy Montfort Tadier, said: 'The closure of the Lloyds Bank branch at Les Quennevais does have clear ramifications on people's ability to access cash. We heard from the Chamber of Commerce about the costs, including travel time, to businesses paying in cash to their accounts, especially for those who are situated out of town. The closure will also affect personal account holders too, including the elderly, who may not wish to travel into town to access banking services.'

The Panel has reached out to the Jersey Bankers Association as they would like to discuss the closure of local bank branches further, to help inform the Review.

If you have any experiences or opinions on the local bank branches closures and the affect they have on accessing cash, you can email (scrutiny@gov.je) or write to the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel at Morier House, Halkett Place St Helier Jersey JE1 1DD. The Panel will soon be forming the conclusions of its Review and the deadline for submissions is 20 September 2024.

Please note that all written and oral submissions will generally be uploaded to the States Assembly website, however, we reserve the right not to release certain submissions into the public domain. Submissions made publicly available in this manner may also be cited in the panel's report. If you wish your name not to be included when we publish your submission, please let us know at the time of making your submission. For further information, please read the States Greffe privacy policy available on stateassembly.gov.je.

Find out more about the Review here.