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For places without a high street bank, like the upper Rhymney Valley, “banking hubs” may be the answer, according to a Senedd Member.

Speaking in the Senedd in her capacity as a Welsh Government deputy minister, Dawn Bowden was responding to a question after HSBC announced it would be closing branches – including one in Blackwood.

The Labour politician, who represents Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, said: “It is a very real problem. “I have it in my own constituency. There is not a single high street branch now in the upper Rhymney Valley, and we’ve now had to rely on mobile branches.”

Since the closure of Lloyds in 2018, people in Rhymney have been served by a mobile Lloyds branch which comes every fortnight on a Monday.

In plenary on Tuesday, November 30, Ms Bowden said: “I think, potentially, the answer is to look at a more hub-type of model for branches that can move around.

“That is something that we really do need to discuss with branches.”

The difference between mobile branches and hubs, is that banks provide staff on rotation in a single place – eg Barclays on a Monday, Lloyds on a Tuesday etc.

According to the Money Saving Expert website, there are currently 27 sites planned across the UK, with Welshpool the only in Wales.

Such services would help communities like Rhymney and people who do not use internet banking. “There are so many people that don’t have access to banking facilities,” added Dawn Bowden MS. “[People] don’t all use internet banking, so we have to find some way of doing that.”

Though around 90% of the UK population uses online banking services, according to Statista there are still obstacles as Wales has the highest level of digital exclusion in the UK, with as many as 7% of the population, or 180,000 people, not using the internet, according to gov.wales.