PEOPLE in Wiltshire will soon benefit from shared banking services in a new pilot scheme run by the British Bankers' Association (BBA).
From January, customers in 10 towns in the UK, including Lloyds TSB in Cricklade, will be able to pay in, make withdrawals and exchange notes and coins in a competitor bank's branch.
Customers will pay no more than they would at their normal branch.
The scheme will run for 12 months in places where there is only a single branch and no others within five miles.
The pilot scheme will gauge customer demand, measure customer behaviour and test the mechanics of banks co-operating to provide these types of services.
An independent evaluation will be carried out at the end by Elaine Kempson of Bristol University Personal Finance Research Centre. The evaluation will help the banks decide the way forward.
Ian Mullen, chief executive of the BBA, said: "The pilot is a genuine attempt to test customer behaviour when offered wider access to services. It is the largest pilot scheme of its type ever undertaken.
"It will offer services to customers who may otherwise have to travel some distance to use bank services."
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