Jane Dodds is calling for banking hubs to be provided in towns and villages in Wales.

The Mid and West Wales MS told the Senedd that banking opportunities are a particular problem in rural areas

She explained that Ystradgynlais, which had fought for a banking hub for more than two years, has finally got one.

Ms Dodds said: “It's real, meaningful access to cash for many in our community - people who are older and people with disabilities, particularly those with learning disabilities who really need access to cash and somebody to talk to.

“We need these developed across the whole of Wales. In Brecon, we only have one bank left.”

Ms Dodds asked Social Justice Secretary, Jane Hutt, to consider how this can be made a “real social justice issue” for many people who need access to cash.

Ms Hutt agreed that banks are closing across Wales.

She said she and the Economy Secretary had a recent meeting with banks to talk about the issues of the loss of banks and financial inclusion, which she said is a “key priority” for the Welsh Government.

Ms Hutt said: “Financial services are reserved, but we have regular meetings with LINK and Cash Access UK - the provision of ATMs is also diminishing - and we also had building societies and our credit unions represented.

“It is good to hear about the Ystradgynlais banking hub. That’s a shared banking space, where different mainstream banks and their community bankers work on a rotating basis, with each present on one designated working day per week.”

Ms Hutt said there are currently nine hubs open, with starts also having been made in establishing hubs in Flint, Holyhead and Monmouth.

She told Ms Dodds: “It is important that you've raised this and that we can again take this forward - and also looking at mobile banking vans, which NatWest Group, Lloyds Bank and Barclays offer.

“I was very proud at Easter to open the first mobile credit union van for Neath Port Talbot - not just Neath Port Talbot but a much wider area.”

The Senedd discussion comes amid a Welsh Liberal Democrat petition calling for a banking hub to be set up in Brecon.

Current rules prevent a hub from being established while one bank remains in the town.

An Early Day Motion has also been submitted by MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick, calling for the urgent establishment of a full-service banking hub in the town. It also calls for an amendment to eligibility rules to ensure Brecon has “fair access to banking infrastructure that its community needs and deserves.”

Lloyds shut its Brecon branch in February this year, while HSBC and Barclays closed in 2023. Santander's Brecon branch on High Street is scheduled to close on June 25, which will leave NatWest as the only remaining bank in town.

A banking hub is a shared high street space where Post Office staff handle cash services for all major banks, with rotating community bankers for complex queries.