A problem raised by two residents at Graham’s Withernsea Street Surgery has led to a nationwide change after Graham persuaded Lloyds to bring back cheque deposits at Post Offices and Banking Hubs.
Mr and Mrs Proctor came to see Graham in May because they could not pay a cheque into their Lloyds account at their local Banking Hub.
Graham promised to take it up and did not stop until Lloyds changed its mind.
He wrote to the bank, raised the problem with the Chancellor in Parliament and rallied 121 MPs from across the political divide and all four nations of the United Kingdom behind his campaign.
Today that work has paid off.
Lloyds personal and business customers can once again deposit cheques at Post Offices and Banking Hubs, meaning Mr and Mrs Proctor can now use the service they first asked Graham to help restore.
Speaking in Parliament on the day the service returned, Graham told MPs how a problem brought to him in Withernsea had ultimately resulted in change for Lloyds customers across Britain.
The campaign reflects Graham’s approach as Beverley and Holderness’s MP: listening to what people tell him, taking up their problems and keeping at it until something changes.
When Graham first contacted Lloyds, the bank refused to reinstate the service.
But Graham knew Mr and Mrs Proctor were not alone.
He gathered the experiences of people across Beverley and Holderness and took their concerns to Westminster, raising the issue with the Chancellor before building support among MPs across Parliament.
In June, 121 MPs backed Graham’s letter to Lloyds Banking Group Chief Executive Charlie Nunn asking the bank to think again.
Lloyds listened.
From today, its customers can once again walk into a Post Office or Banking Hub and deposit a cheque in person.
The change is particularly important in rural communities such as Withernsea, where the nearest alternative Lloyds branch is 17 miles away and many people still value being able to manage their money face to face.
It follows Graham’s wider work to protect local banking services, including helping to secure a Cash Hub in Hedon and ensuring Lloyds remained open in the town until the new service was ready.
Graham said:
“Mr and Mrs Proctor came to see me at my Street Surgery in Withernsea because they wanted to do something pretty simple: pay a cheque into their own bank account.
“I said I would take it up. Lloyds initially said no, but I wasn’t prepared to leave it there.
“I raised it with the Chancellor and brought together 121 MPs from across Parliament to show Lloyds that people in Beverley and Holderness were far from alone.
“Lloyds listened and changed its mind. Today Mr and Mrs Proctor can pay their cheque in at their local Banking Hub, and so can Lloyds customers across the country.
“That is what being a local MP is about. People tell me what needs changing, and my job is to find a way to get it changed.
“I’m grateful to Mr and Mrs Proctor for coming to see me, to colleagues from across Parliament who backed the campaign and to Lloyds for ultimately doing the right thing.
“What started with a conversation in Withernsea has changed a service across Britain. That is a result worth having.”
