LLOYDS TO MAKE ITS BRIGG BRANCH COUNTER-FREE IS MAJOR TALKING POINT IN THE TOWN

A Brigg bank branch is 'going counter-free'  - and this switch, to be carried out shortly, is proving a major talking point in the town.
Under what some customers will see as a radical change, Lloyds - on Wrawby Street - will no longer have its long-familiar counters with assistants serving customers behind glass panels.
Instead, customers will find additional cashpoint machines inside the building from which they can draw out cash, plus extra immediate deposit machines to pay in cheques and banknotes (up to 50 of the latter at a time).
"Your usual staff will still be there and can help show you how to use the service points and answer any questions you may have," Lloyds says in a circular letter to customers delivered very recently.
At the Brigg branch it will no longer be possible to pay in coins or draw out more than £500 at a time. Ordering travel money will also cease.
The Wrawby Street branch will be closed while the inside is altered - planning permission having been granted by North Lincolnshire Council.
Another letter has been sent to local customers by Lloyds, introducing a new manager for the Brigg branch.
Strangely, despite giving five pages of information in its two letters to customers, Lloyds does not reveal the date when its Brigg branch will close to be made  'counter free'. Nor do its letters saw how long the work will take or whether the existing cashpoint will still be dishing out dosh while refurbishment is going on.
"Ask in branch for when this will happen," is as much as Lloyds says in its notes to customers.
Those who need banking services no longer available at the Brigg branch are being advised to visit the firm's outlets on Scunthorpe High Street and  Ashby town centre.
The forthcoming changes are creating great interest among Lloyds customers and even those who do not bank with this company.
Brigg Blog  first got an inkling this was going to happen after close study of the internal drawings that accompanied the planning application.
Most of those people with personal accounts won't see much difference if they are used to drawing notes by ATM. Indeed, with more of these being made available it should reduce waiting time for those wishing to get at their own money.
However, no longer being able to pay in coins will affect  small businesses paying in takings.
Once Lloyd's is converted, it will still have staff on duty in the building.
However, this change will leave Barclays as the only high street banking company still offering a counter service in Brigg.
HSBC and NatWest have closed their branches in the town, so many Lloyds customers will have a sense of relief that they still have a local outlet.
Following the installation, it will be interesting to see:

• How 'counter free' is received by customers
• Whether the time taken to withdraw a handful of notes (for housekeeping or beer-drink purposes) actually reduces
• How many staff are on duty at various times of the day to assist Brigg customers.