Copyright manchestereveningnews
In a significant setback for the high street, an additional 24 bank branches are due to shut their doors across the nation next month. This latest round of closures will see Lloyds Bank, along with other banking titans on the high street, closing branches from Bristol to Sheffield. Barclays, NatWest, Halifax, Santander and Bank of Scotland are also among the banks involved in these closures. The move is set to disrupt access to face-to-face banking services for millions of customers. Consumer champion Which?reports that banks and building societies have closed a staggering 6,443 branches since January 2015, averaging at 53 closures every month. Starting next month, Lloyds Bank will close down 17 more branches, including those in Bristol Bishopsworth and Manchester Newton Heath. Two more Bank of Scotland branches, as well as three Halifax branches, are also set to permanently close. Barclays, NatWest and Santander will each respectively close one branch come November. After shutting 32 branches last month, Lloyds is poised to close additional branches in major locations such as Sheffield and Bristol. Data gathered by consumer magazine Which? shows that approximately 6,300 bank and building society branches have closed in the UK since January 2015, representing 64% of branches that were open a decade ago. Since the announcement of each closure, 1,879 bank branches have either closed or announced their intention to do so. This equates to an average of roughly 50 closures announced per month since February 2022, or 12 per week. Yet the pace of closures might be slowing down. Annual closures have fallen from a peak of 633 in 2023, down to 399 last year and 364 set to shut by the end of 2025. Autumn closures have steadily declined from 223 between September and November in 2022, to 191 in 2023, 111 last year, and 70 this autumn. A recent House of Commons Library report said the decline in cash and banking services was partly down to "changing consumer behaviour" and the move towards online banking and digital payments. But the report also pointed out that the reduction was being "driven by industry changes such as the reduction in the amount ATM operators earn when ATMs are used". It added: "A reduction in cash and banking service availability falls hardest on some of the more vulnerable groups in society including the elderly, digitally excluded people and those with low incomes." What's more, fewer banking services can make it tougher for businesses to handle cash, potentially causing some to refuse cash payments altogether. This can then create further problems for people who depend on cash. The LINK scheme to assess the impact of closures - which was agreed by all the major banks including Barclays, HSBC, Natwest, Lloyds, and Halifax - was set up to en. The bank has given assurances that vulnerable customers and small businesses will not be left in the lurch as it transitions to cashless payments and online banking. Lloyds Bank. Biggleswade - November 5. Blandford - November 10. Bristol Bishopsworth - November 6. Chard - November 11. Coventry Foleshill - November 4. Dunstable - November 4. East Grinstead - November 12. Feltham - November 4. Ferndown - November 17. Hexham - November 5. Loughton - November 12. Manchester Newton Heath - November 5. Plymstock - November 4. Pontardawe - November 20. Sheffield Woodhouse - November 11. Shipston-on-Stour - November 11. Bank of Scotland. Moffat - November 19. Thornhill - November 3. Barclays. Northampton Wellingborough Road - November 28. Halifax. Bolton - November 20. Hexham - November 10. Wickford - November 10. NatWest. Garstang - November 10. Santander. Surrey Quays - November 10.
