VANISHING BANKS

Over 1,300 banks have announced their closure since 2022 - with around 250 scheduled to shut this year

AROUND 250 banks are set to close this year or have already shut - as financial services continue to be stripped from the high street at pace. Twelve major bank branches closed in January alone and another 38 in February. They are among 245 banks set to close in 2024, with another six branches also due to shut but with no end date yet announced.

Meanwhile, the closure of 15 banks in 2025 has already been announced.

Of all those impending closures, the loss of 89 branches will leave the surrounding communities with no alternative branches of any bank.

But given recent trends, it is likely more closures will be announced.

Since February 2022 - when a voluntary agreement saw the major banking groups commit to assessing the impact of every closure - 1,325 banks have either shut or announced their intention to close. That's an average of 55 closures announced every month or almost two per day.

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 set up to ensure vulnerable customers and small businesses were not left behind in the switch to cashless payments and virtual banking.

When closures leave communities without any local bank, banking hubs or free ATMs are set up to fill the gap.

The wave of bank closures has affected every part of the UK, with a total of 1,107 lost in England alone, plus another 92 in Scotland, 83 in Wales, 42 in Northern Ireland, and one in the Isle of Wight.

Around a quarter of those closures (356, or 27%) have left the surrounding community with no branch of any bank nearby.

The charity Age UK has called for branch closures to be put on hold until more banking hubs have opened in areas with no alternative services.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director for Age UK, said: “The continuing avalanche of bank branch closures means that by the end of this year there will be considerably fewer opportunities for face-to-face banking than there were even just a couple of years ago. Older people living in rural and semi-rural areas are likely to be the hardest hit, but those in towns and cities are not immune. Our research found that more than 4 million older people with a bank account in Britain are not managing their money online and so are at high risk of digital exclusion.

“Age UK is calling for the protection of physical banking services for those who do not, or cannot bank online, and for the accelerated roll-out of shared banking hubs in areas where bank branches are fast withering away. We applaud the banks for coming together to set up shared Hubs, but it's important that alternative services are set up speedily, especially in those areas with the greatest need.

“The disappearance of face-to-face banking risks cutting a significant minority of the older population out of an essential service, making it difficult if not impossible for them to manage their money and maintain their independence.”

Chris Ashton, Head of Banking at LINK, said: “Despite the fact that more people are banking and shopping online, meaning they're not visiting ATMs or bank branches as often as they used to, our data shows that over 70% of people still used cash in the last two weeks. We assess each and every bank closure as it's critical that we're able to provide free access to cash and faceto-face banking services in communities across the UK. Since 2021, we have recommended 106 new banking hubs which will help bring life back to the High Street and ensure that communities can still access cash and basic banking services locally.”