Banks close a third of their branches
AROUND a third of the UK’s bank branches have shut within the past five years alone, according to Which?... and it’s worst in Wales.
Hundreds more which remain open have slashed their opening hours, with some just open for one or two days a week.
There were 3,303 bank branch closures, equating to 34% of the network, between January 2015 and August 2019, the consumer group said.
The network has reduced in size from 9,803 branches to 6,549 over the period, with the number of closures being slightly offset by 49 branches also opening.
Of the UK’s bank branches that remain open, 298 are now operating with reduced opening hours of four days a week or less, Which? said.
Eleven of these branches - all in Scotland - open for just one day a week, while 45 branches nationwide open for just two days per week.
The shrinking branch network has been driven by a wave of closures by major high street names.
Which? said NatWest - part of the RBS Group - closed 638 branches, while sister bank RBS has shut 412 - equating to 74% of its UK branches.
HSBC made 442 closures and Barclays shut at least 481 branches - Which? said Barclays did not share full bank closure numbers with it, so the total could be higher.
Within Lloyds Banking Group, Lloyds Bank closed 404 branches, while Bank of Scotland shut 95 branches and Halifax shed 70 of its branches.
Meanwhile, Santander closed 294 branches, the Co-op lost 152 and Yorkshire Bank shut 74, Which? said.
Which? said that by contrast, Nationwide Building Society has retained an “impressive” 96% of its branches.
Nationwide has pledged not to leave any town or city in which it is currently based without a branch until at least May 2021.
Rural areas have been particularly hard hit by the branch closures, at a time when ATM shutdowns are also fuelling concerns about free access to cash.
For example, the consumer group could not find any bank branches in the entire Wentworth and Dearne constituency in Yorkshire, which has a population of 98,000.
North East Derbyshire and Stoke-onTrent North have both lost six branches, equating to more than four-fifths of their network, Which? said.
Central Devon saw an 81% branch reduction, while Carmarthen East and Dinefwr lost four-fifths (80%) of the network.
Wales has seen 43% of its bank branches shut, while for Scotland the percentage is 38%, and in Northern Ireland it is 29%, Which? said.
It argued that while some banks offer mobile branches, they do not offer the same convenience of access as a permanent bank branch.