My Name Is Chris

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Chris Fox asks what will happen to his town now that the last bank is closing.

Chris Fox owns a restaurant in Buckingham, where the last bank is due to close.

Running a small business himself, Chris understands that banks will sometimes need to close, but this will leave the town without any banking facilities, and he's worried what it will mean for him, his customers and his community. As consumer habits change, how should banks balance their business interests with the needs of often vulnerable members of the community?

Speaking to friends and fellow business owners in Buckingham, Chris gets a sense of how this will affect people, and speaking to Jenny Ross from the consumer organisation Which?, he hears that this is happening in more and more places. So what might be done about it? Chris heads to Essex, where he visits a Banking Hub and a pop-up bank, two initiatives which might offer part of the solution. Chris is really pleased to hear that government will legislate to protect the public's access to cash, but how would that work, and is there a danger that the remedy creates new problems?

Producer: Giles Edwards

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