Areas of the UK that have been stripped of bank branches are typically poorer, have older populations and suffer from slow broadband, analysis of official figures shows, while the 16 areas that have lost no bank branches since January 2015 are richer than the national average. Banks have long been accused of abandoning some of the most deprived areas of the UK. Customers in the affected locations complain that they are told to bank online, but often cannot because their internet speeds are so poor. The banks have always denied this accusation. Now a study by The Sunday Times using figures from Which?, the Office for National Statistics and the regulator Ofcom, reveals that workers in the hardest-hit locations earn about £3,000 a year less…

Source: The Times October 05, 2019 11:03 UTC