Ecology Building Society opened the doors to its first ever branch last week, in Porth, south Wales.
The opening restores bricks-and-mortar financial services to the town, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, for the first time in eight years, when its last bank branch closed.
Founded in 1981, Ecology has operated as a branchless building society, favouring a mostly direct-to-customer model over traditional high street services. Breaking with that tradition, it is opening on Porth to offer face-to-face services to customers who had been left in a banking desert.
The new branch is located in a refurbished shop unit on Hannah Street, and has three employees: a branch manager, a community engagement manager, and a branch service specialist, all hired from the local area.
Included in the branch are private spaces where customers can speak directly to Ecology’s member services team, which, the building society says, serves over 15,000 customers across the UK from Ecology’s head office.
Additionally, the branch features a free-to-use community space for local groups to host activities and events.
To mark the occasion, Ecology has launched the RCT Community Impact Saver easy access account. This pays 2% to savers annually, and will fund an annual donation equivalent to 1% of average monthly balances to a grant fund offering up to £500 for ‘eligible good causes’.
“We’re looking forward to bringing essential financial services back to Porth high street for residents and businesses in the area who were deserted by the big bank closures,” said Ecology CEO Gareth Griffiths. “To show our commitment to our new community, we’ve created the Community Impact Saver account, through which savers can support local charities and other organisations doing good in their area.
“We know how much people value face-to-face support. Our branch team are ready to welcome the people of Porth and the surrounding area, providing access to ethical savings and mortgages that do good for people and our planet.”
In September, Ecology announced it had raised £7.1m to support its growth plans, which include the launch of a new Ecology app and banking platform alongside plans to double its mortgage lending.
