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Market town in England turns to WhatsApp 'change exchange' to deal with dearth of banks

June 20, 2019

Business folks in a small market town in the northeastern corner of Suffolk, England, found a way to deal with a dearth of cash in the town. 

According to a report in the BBC, traders in Halesworth set up a WhatsApp "change exchange." The messaging app gives them a way to connect when someone in the group needs to change notes for coins. 

The town lost its only two permanent bank branches last year after the banks' customers started doing their banking online. Lloyds Bank closed a branch in May 2018, followed by Barclays later in the year. Now, the town has no place to get cash. 

The change exchange saves business owners the trouble of going to the post office for change or having to make the 9-11 mile journey to the nearest bank branch.

"It's a change exchange, so if any business has excess change then they put a message on the WhatsApp group," Karen Prime, owner of Edwards restaurant, told the BBC.