Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Insider UK
Insider UK
Business
Richard Ault & Peter A Walker

Find out which banks are closing in your area

High street banks are shutting down more than 400 branches this year - leaving dozens more communities with nowhere to go for local financial services.

A total of 20 banks are set to close this year alone in Scotland.

But in some areas, the latest closures will leave high streets without any existing banks, meaning customers will have to go online or travel to other locations to access financial services.

The closures will leave five communities in Scotland without a bank.

You can see if banks are closing or have closed in your area using our interactive map:

It comes as Age UK warns many older or vulnerable people are struggling with online banking.

The charity's research found that four in 10 older people (39%) with a bank account in Britain - equivalent to more than four million people - are not managing their money online and could be at risk of financial exclusion.

Age UK has now called for more banking hubs to be opened in the UK in locations where all banks have closed. These are spaces shared by several high-street lenders featuring counter services and visits from community bankers from the major banks.

More than 50 banking hubs have been announced, but only four have opened so far.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: ”We need to face up to the fact that huge numbers of older people, the oldest old, especially, are not banking online.

”Even older people who do bank online often want the ability to talk to a bank employee in the flesh about some kind of transaction.

”A lack of face-to-face banking will only serve to further exclude the millions of people on a low income who have no or limited access to the internet.”

Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association, said banks were closing at a much faster pace than the hubs were opening.

”Small businesses want to remain accessible and available to their customers, and that means being able to accept cash - as a result, indie retailers need access to cash, customers need cash and so we need banks on the high street.”

Branch closures are driven by factors including the rise of online banking, the increasing popularity of mobile banking, and the cost of running branches.

Of the bank closures that have been announced or have already taken place this year, Barclays have overseen the most closures, with 122 branches lost to the high street.

That is followed by HSBC (114), NatWest (106), Lloyds (62) and Halifax (32).

Barclays is closing or has closed the most branches in areas that have no other physical banking services (45), followed by Lloyds (34) and then NatWest (24).

Barclays says it maintains an in-person presence in over 200 locations “where there is no longer enough demand to support a branch” through the Barclays Local network, based in libraries, town halls, mobile vans and “banking pods”.

A spokesperson said: “As visits to branches continue to fall, we need to adapt to provide the best service for all our customers.”

A spokesperson for Lloyds Banking Group - which also owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland - said increasing demand for online banking meant it needed to continue to develop “services our customers want to use”.

Lloyds stated that its branches would “continue to be an option for our customers alongside our telephone services, mobile app and online bank”.

A spokesperson for NatWest Group - which is the parent company of Royal Bank of Scotland -added: “We understand and recognise that digital solutions aren’t right for everyone or every situation, and that when we close branches we have to make sure that no one is left behind.

“We take our responsibility seriously to support the people who face challenges in moving online, so we are investing to provide them with support and alternatives that work for them.”

Don't miss the latest headlines with our twice-daily newsletter - sign up here for free.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.