Since 2015 UK Bank Branches Have Almost Halved – Analysis – Cryptovibes.com – Daily Cryptocurrency and FX News
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In the last six years, according to consumer group Which? 4,735 branches have shut down or been earmarked for closure
Since 2015, almost half of the UK’s bank branches have been lost, or scheduled for closure, according to figures put together by a consumer group, putting vulnerable customers at risk of being “cut adrift”.
Over the past six years, 4,735 branches have been shut or earmarked for closure, according to an analysis carried out by Which? for the news agency PA. The figure is equal to 48% of the network as it stood in January 2015.
A majority of the big banks have been cutting their branch networks in recent years alleging that customers are spurning traditional counter service in favor of banking online and via mobile phones. Some have said that this shift to digital banking has been accelerated by the Covid pandemic, and recent months have seen a spate of announcements of closures.
Across England and Wales, Lloyds Banking Group is scheduled to close 41 Lloyds Bank and seven Halifax branches between January and April 2022. These closures come in addition to 100 closures earlier in the year.
TSB, several weeks later, announced that it would close 70 branches – a quarter of its network. This means that it will more than halved the number of outlets it had over the last two years. Jenny Ross, Which? Money editor, said:
“Wave after wave of bank branch closures in recent years have left many people who depend on them for essential banking services – particularly the elderly and vulnerable – at risk of being cut adrift.”
“Recent proposals put forward to help secure the future of cash are very promising, but we will be watching closely to see if they are preventing further communities from losing cash access and vital banking services.”
Figures published earlier this year showed that despite the pandemic having hastened the move from cash to contactless payments, in 2021 there were still 1.2 million people in the UK who, for their day-to-day spending, relied on coins and notes.
To protect the future of cash, the government has said it will legislate a way to enable people to access their money without a bank branch or ATM. In that context, it has introduced cashback without a purchase in shops.
Several banks announced an initiative to share services in December, and there are also plans to extend a pilot scheme in which Post Offices hosted bank staff and offered counter services to individuals and businesses.
But, there were millions of people for whom the decision to close a bank branch was really disruptive, Natalie Ceeney, chair of Cash Action Group, said:
“That’s not only vulnerable people who may be on low incomes or have a disability, but small businesses, whose customers pay in cash and can no longer deposit their takings at the branch that was once across the high street.”
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