A SMALL business owner in a Wrexham village has told of how she and others are thriving despite a lack of nearby bank branches.

Closures of banks over the last few years in places such as Rhos and Chirk has left residents and some businesses in more rural areas with no physical branch to go into, unless they can travel in to Wrexham town centre.

But a number of businesses have found a solution by turning to turning to 'fintech' (financial technology) apps to do their banking

Rachel Burns who runs Rachel's Vegan Cakes in Bwlchgwyn, says her business being located in a rural location is no longer hindered by a lack of physical banks nearby.

She said: "I've got a small business and I work full-time so have a limited number of hours to go to the bank.

"I don't have spare time, it is getting harder and harder and I wanted something easier so I moved on to an app in March.

"I've saved a lot of time, I can do invoices and if someone orders a cake I can create an invoice for them there and then."

She added: "When I was told by my last bank that they didn't even have a cashier anymore to give my takings too, it really put me off having a bank account.

"I've been running this cake business for just over two years in Bwlchgwyn and we have never had a bank here.

"We have never even had a shop so I think this is the way forward for people running businesses in rural areas like Bwlchgwyn."

Andrew Garvey CCO at Countingup, the accounting and banking company used by Rachel, said it is not just businesses in rural areas who will change the way they bank in future.

He said: "We want to be different to existing banks because we want to merge software together.

"You don't want to be driving dozens of miles to your nearest bank, and even small businesses in Wrexham town centre find that they cannot access their banks around the corner out of hours - when they might not have time to go during the day."