Gemma cares deeply for her dad David, who is a vibrant and active man, living independently in a rural setting in his eighties. Gemma wants to help make David’s life as easy as possible for him, so for a long time she has been encouraging David to start using his computer and his phone to manage his finances.
Gemma’s argument was that David was spending the best part of a day each week, taking the bus, and making his way into his local town, and visiting his bank in person to undertake basic transactions that would only take a few seconds if he used technology.
Gemma is getting increasingly frustrated with David, and thinks that his reluctance to change is to do with a fear of trying something new. Gemma has great confidence in David and thinks that there is nothing that he cannot master if he tries! Therefore, Gemma can’t understand why David is so determined not to use technology to manage his money.
Eventually David explains to Gemma that going into town each week and visiting the bank was a highlight of his week. He enjoys getting on the bus, and watching the world go by as he travels into town. He likes the walk from the bus station, as he enjoys window shopping, reading the restaurant menu signs and looking in the estate agents’ windows.
When he arrives at his bank, he knows the names of all the staff and if there is a queue or if it is raining he can happily take a seat for a few minutes. The service advisors all know him and greet him by name, and they always have a chat as he conducts his business. And they notice if he ever misses a week.
Once out of the bank, he visits the bakery two doors down. He orders a sausage roll or a bun, and if the weather is fine, he takes it outside, to eat whilst sitting on one of the many benches in the town square, where lots of other “golden oldies” (as he calls them) sit. If there are people to chat to, he will do that. If not, he likes to watch the people; the mums with prams, the office workers running errands, the dog walkers and the tourists just there for a nice day out.
When he’s ready, he makes his way back to the bus station having had a stimulating and highly enjoyable day out. And importantly for the town, he has spent some time and money investing in all the rural services in his area.
Local banks are important. They offer so much more than just banking.
