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Banks are offering free cafes and workspaces in a bid to attract customers to branches. And you don’t even have to be a customer to use them.
More than 6,000 bank and building society branches have closed since January 2015, according to consumer group Which? An increasing number of those remaining are reinventing spaces to remain relevant and ensure their survival.
So could fresh coffee save struggling retail establishments or simply delay the inevitable? Toby Walne visits three to find out.
‘Where is the bank’? Toby Walne visited three workspaces offered by Halifax, Santander and Virgin Money, where customers can buy coffee and type on their laptops.
Halifax, New Oxford Street, London
This £31.5 million flagship branch features 13,500 sq ft of prime real estate across three floors in central London.
On a Thursday, shortly before noon, the streets of the branch are packed with shoppers and tourists.
But upon entering, you’ll find an oasis of calm: just three employees present and a half-dozen customers who seem lost in the warehouse-sized building.
To my left are six ATMs (pull-in and pop-in) plus a couple of old blue-painted GPO phone booths that customers are invited to enter to call Halifax. There are seven sofas and a handful of comfortable chairs around the edges, but I feel self-conscious in this entire space.
A giant television screen advises me to “go up to the cafeteria to recharge my batteries.”
On the second floor there is a ‘Home Hub’ where half a dozen people enjoy a team-building lunch. The area also includes three meeting rooms plus a “video room,” an empty “kids savings zone” and a “home shopping” space.
I’m afraid to think how much this bank costs. Halifax to close 119 branches this year and next
The Kitchen cafe is open. A flat white costs £3.14, but barista Kaja convinces me to pay £4.50, to include a slice of caramel tart.
The coffee shop is a Change Please establishment where profits “equip homeless people with the tools and training to become baristas.”
It’s the only thing that makes sense in this bank.
There are two long benches for eight people and two smaller tables that seat four people each. I have a bench to myself and sign up for the free wifi.
I try to follow the advice of one of the bank’s Orwellian posters about “Make yourself at home” and type away on my laptop.
This landmark property was acquired in May 2018 for £31.5 million, according to The Move Market website. Small branches cost around £590,000 a year to run, according to the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority.
So, I’m scared to think how much this one costs. Halifax will close 119 branches this year and next.
Santander Work Café, London
Near Regent’s Park is the Santander Work Cafe. Inside there are two employees in the lobby. I ask one: ‘Where is the bank?’ She responds, “We can get someone to help you if you need it, but we’re mostly digital.”
The open space includes sofas, plush armchairs and seven desk spaces, plus two more large tables for me to sit at, each seating eight people. I count 23 people who are “working” instead of banking.
There are half a dozen private rooms including a couple of divided meeting areas. Fortunately, a jukebox screen on the wall is disabled. There are a couple of ATMs.
At 1:00 p.m., the main attraction appears to be the Work Café, run by The Colombian Coffee Company. If I pay with a Santander debit or credit card I get a 30 percent discount.
‘Library’: The atmosphere at the Santander Work Café was good to continue working
The flat white costs £4.20 but provides a better dose of caffeine than the Halifax. Once again the staff used their sales pattern to convince me to pay £8 to enjoy coffee, a £6 sandwich and a snack.
I opt for the coconut tofu coleslaw sandwich after barista Andrea tells me I’ll love it.
The library atmosphere is conducive to work, the free Wi-Fi is fast, and there are power outlets scattered throughout.
Slogans painted on the wall such as “No one can get there alone by having talent” indicate that this is a work space.
This ‘bank’ is part of a £27 million refurbishment of the 2001 Santander headquarters, to which it is attached, and which opened just a year ago to join the Work Cafés in Leeds and Milton Keynes.
Staff are available if you need help. After my first and last tofu sandwich, I leave at 2 pm.
Virgin Money, Birmingham
The exterior of this glass-fronted bank in the city center does not indicate that it is anything more than a typical modern bank.
The doors open and in front is a counter manned by the branch manager, Kelly. However, instead of receiving financial aid, they offer me coffee.
She explains that I am not at a bank counter, but at a “yes bar” where, after pouring ourselves a drink, we can discuss my needs. The place is empty when I visit, apart from three employees.
There are a couple of “money rooms” to the side for privacy, but Kelly says she usually stays “on stage” in the soft seating area.
She says a key part of the job is educating customers on how to bank online. After explaining that I’m not here for banking reasons, nor am I a Virgin customer, I expect them to kick me out.
But Kelly says I can work at the branch for free, which includes internet and electricity use. If we were a group of four we could book a meeting room for a suggested donation of £25 or £50.
The machine coffee is free but the quality compared to other baristas at the bank is poor.
This is one of Virgin’s eight ‘cafe lounges’, but to me it feels more like a bank than a place to work.
I sit in a booth that says “Get bolder, not older.” Maybe these barista bars are finally softening me up, since I even like this corporate slogan. Unlike other branches, maintaining this branch does not cost more than if it were a traditional bank.
Not everyone is convinced.
Passerby Pat Parkin, 75, tells me: ‘If I want a coffee, I go to a coffee shop. All of these banks are playing the same game: pushing us towards online banking. Coffee shops are a soft-sell way of trying to do this.”
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