TSB starts closing over-the-counter services at 2pm

TSB has started closing its over-the-counter services at 2pm in a pilot scheme being trialled in 14 branches.

The bank has told staff to focus on giving advice in the afternoon, rather than performing cash transactions.

Sources said employees will also be asked to spend more time instructing customers on how to use digital services.

Pilot scheme: The bank has told staff to focus on giving advice in the afternoon, rather than performing cash transactions

However, the bank insists no customer will be turned away if they have an over-the-counter requirement. All 14 branches have ATMs for cash transactions.

Carol Anderson, a branch banking director at TSB, said more branches hope to join the pilot, quoting the management slogan 'Moving in the right way, at the right time, from transaction to interaction'.

In an edition of the TSB's staff newsletter, she said: 'I will make sure to keep you up to date with progress and I already know that many teams want to get involved with this.'

A spokesman for TSB said: 'The way customers use their banks is changing and Covid-19 has significantly accelerated the use of digital services.

'Any customer who requires counter support will be provided this.'