In a significant blow to the high street, another 24 bank branches are set to close across the country next month. This latest wave of closures will see Lloyds Bank, along with other high street banking giants, shuttering branches from Bristol to Sheffield.
Barclays, NatWest, Halifax, Santander and Bank of Scotland are also among the banks included in these closures. The move will disrupt access to in-person banking for millions of customers.
According to consumer champion Which?, banks and building societies have closed 6,443 branches since January 2015, averaging at 53 closures every month. Starting next month, Lloyds Bank will axe 17 more branches, including those in Bristol Bishopsworth and Manchester Newton Heath.
Two more Bank of Scotland branches, as well as three Halifax branches, will also close their doors for good. Barclays, NatWest and Santander will each respectively close a branch come November.
After closing 32 branches last month, Lloyds is set to close additional branches in major locations such as Sheffield and Bristol. Data collected by consumer magazine Which?
reveals that around 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 shut down or declared their intention to do so. This equates to an average of roughly 50 closures announced per month since February 2022, or 12 per week.
However, the rate of closures may be decelerating. The number of annual closures has dropped from a recent high of 633 in 2023, to 399 last year and 364 scheduled to close by the end of 2025.
Autumn closures have consistently decreased from 223 between September and November in 2022, to 191 in 2023, 111 last year, and 70 this autumn. A recent report issued by the House of Commons Library stated that the provision of cash and banking services had declined partly due to “changing consumer behaviour” and the shift towards online banking and digital payments.
However, the report also highlighted that the reduction was being “driven by industry changes such as the reduction in the amount ATM operators earn when ATMs are used”. It further noted: “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.”
Additionally, a reduction in banking services can make it harder for businesses to process cash, potentially leading some to stop taking cash as payment.
This can in turn lead to further difficulty for people who rely on cash. ” The LINK initiative to assess the impact of closures – which was agreed by all the major banks including Barclays, HSBC, Natwest, Lloyds, and Halifax – was established to en.
The bank has assured that vulnerable customers and small businesses will not be left behind in the transition to cashless payments and online banking.
Bank closures in November
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