Future of banking

We have seen a massive shift in demand patterns. We felt that us being able to match the opening hours more closely to customer demand that would give us the opportunity to make sure at the times the branch was open we'd have the maximum amount of resource available.

As we came out of the pandemic, demand was changing on an almost ongoing basis, therefore we were reviewing opening hours on a staged basis - which wasn't great for customers or colleagues either, but we needed to take our time for things to return to ‘more normal’.

The position we're in now represents the best position of stability right now for the bulk of the network, but we are still learning and reviewing hours based on demand. There are going to be some locations where we might want to contract or extend the hours but we’ll continue to monitor this.

To calculate the resources we think we need, we do a time-and-motion study which some of you may have been involved in. We ask colleagues to observe other colleagues doing activities and time them. We then put that into a model that aggregates to work out how much resource we need across the network. At a network level, we're confident that we have the right amount of resource, but we do rely on our local leadership teams making decisions locally to make sure the resource is deployed effectively across a pool.

We responded quickly to the need to move colleagues into Customer Services during the pandemic and this was the right thing to do to ensure we could continue to serve our customers that were no longer coming into branch.  The speed at which we did this, does mean that in some locations we now have a few inconsistencies in terms of resourcing levels, but given that we used volunteers for these moves as well as the ones to CFA, means we will just take time to readjust to reallocate resource to the right places.

We will take each case individually. Our part as a leadership team is to protect our colleagues. We need to ensure we're investing time back in to support colleagues.

We recognise that the team manager role is varied and team managers have had to adapt to manage teams under a hybrid working model, and we need to look at what we're asking managers to do to help them spend more time supporting colleagues. If we genuinely thought a simple communication, would help our colleagues to feel safe to put their hand up and say "I really need 5-10 minutes" rather than call drop, my preference is that we do that and don't allow colleagues to put themselves in that position.

We're always open to conversations on this.

We are thoughtful on multiskilling, and if there is a "toxic mix" of demands on a role, we should be thoughtful of that. There's an element of focusing on the individual capability and aspirations - what's right for one isn't always right for everyone. There is a bit of work for us to do, and we should always be reviewing what we're asking colleagues to do.

It's important that we allow colleagues flexibility and support them through that process. There's more we can do to bring colleagues the information they need upfront, to help guide them through the right processes.

Hopefully you're having these conversations locally.

Yes, we're very aware of the challenges of the cost-of-living crisis, and Accord are doing a very good job of provoking the bank's GEC to respond in that regard.

In Community Bank, we're trying to ensure that we present all of the options available to colleagues to support them through these challenges. We know how difficult it can be for a colleague to talk about issues they may have of this nature, so we're trying to present relevant support to colleagues and line managers upfront.

There's too much on individual colleagues to correct the process. In the wider bank, just a small percentage of digital transactions will branch out and need the support of a bank colleague.

In Fraud the options we have on self-serve are currently limited. We're prioritising our investment in this space to make it much simpler and bring the technology closer in line with some of the industry leaders. We're also looking to train up some colleagues in branch, so we don't have the situations of a customer coming into branch and then having to wait on the phone. We've also got to look at the way we queue customers depending upon the channel they've come through and consider the wait they may already have had.

It's a massive priority and a real focus for us.

The rates are set on an annual basis with the Inland Revenue, and right now they're maybe not covering it as petrol prices have risen 30%. It's an issue as they are set on that annual basis but remember anyone using a private vehicle you can claim back in tax returns, which is a pain, but that's the way the tax system is setup.

As a group, we want people to use public transport where possible, as you are claiming back the actual cost of the transport.

As a reminder, Accord members can use our Tax Matters helpline which can help guide you through the process to claim any tax you may be due back.

The scheme, sometimes referred to as salary sacrifice but the business call 'car choices', allows colleagues to buy a vehicle from gross salary, but subject to Benefit in Kind tax rules.

It's geared to electric vehicles as the Benefit in Kind is 1% moving to 2% currently. We've taken nearly 2000 orders from that, 90% are electric vehicles and most of the rest are hybrid. It's not going to be beneficial for petrol or diesel, it's not going to be that useful because the Benefit in Kind goes through the roof - as it should as the government isn't going to incentivise petrol and diesel.

It is an all-in-one price, so includes the insurance and maintenance. However, it's designed to promote sustainable car buying choices which brings brilliant value.

Electric vehicles are expensive right now, at around £20k, but we're working with partners to bring more choice to the scheme with lower starting price points. Over time, we'll also look to include second-hand purchases of electric vehicles.

It will take time.

The electric vehicle market is still immature. The oldest electric vehicles on the road are 5 years old, but most are not so old. Most vehicles will be able to run on their original battery for more than a decade - most will have a 7-year battery warrant.

You will see a secondary market develop - in 5 years' time for example, I expect Halfords will do battery replacements. There are loads of uses for those batteries, for example electricity storage as we de-carbonise our energy system. The batteries will still be useful for storage where they may no longer be useful for vehicles because of a degradation in the range. It's not there yet.

Right now, the focus is getting those cars on the road, and the charging infrastructure in place. The next steps will come over time.