Is your local bank going to close? Useful tool reveals if your branch will be shutting its doors
HUNDREDS of high street banks are set to close this year – use our handy tool to see if your local one will be shutting its doors.
Thousands of Brits will struggle to access in person banking services after more branch closures were announced this month.
More than 5,000 have already gone from the high street since 2015.
NatWest announced on Thursday it was closing 23 branches from April to June this year as part of its transition to online services.
In October, the bank confirmed it would shut 43 branches across the UK in 2023 and 13 were closed this month.
Some 19million people – equivalent to one in four in the UK – already have no face-to-face banking option.
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Campaigners have warned that towns across the UK are being “cut adrift” by the cull in banking services.
Check on our nifty tool to see if your local bank is at risk of being closed down.
The move by NatWest comes after Lloyds and Halifax announced last week another 40 branches would be cut.
Tory MP Alexander Stafford slammed the move as an “absolute disgrace,” saying Lloyds had a “duty of care” to local communities.
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Thousands of branches have closed since 2015
Since 2015, a total of 5,391 bank branches have closed, an average of 54 every month.
Some residents in South Wales are forced to have to cross the border into England, just so they can get to their nearest branch.
The 55,000 locals in Newport East, which stretches from the River Usk to Caldicot, have no in-person banking facilities.
In order to get to their local branch some residents in Caldicot head to Bristol while others travel to Newport, where some banks are still operating, although a branch of HSBC is due to close later this year.
Alex Olney, 79, a former antiques dealer, moved to the village of Undy last month and was shocked by the lack of banking facilities in her new area.
She said: “I bank with NatWest and I haven't got a clue where my nearest branch is.
“I don't know how to do online banking. I can use the internet for emails to keep in touch with people but that's about it. I don't do anything online.”
Alan Lewis, 77, a retired mechanic, travels six miles to Chepstow to use his bank said that while he can use online banking, he prefers to do things face-to-face.
Age UK’s director Caroline Abrahams said: “Access to face to face banking is becoming more and more restricted.
“With swathes of local branches closing and others adopting reduced hours it's creating real problems for older people who are unwilling or unable to bank online, or who would simply like the choice of being able to walk into a bank and talk to someone if they have a query.”
She added: “The rapid move towards online banking over the past few years has caused significant problems for many older customers, particularly those with visual impairments and poor dexterity.
“These difficulties are exacerbated when branch closures coincide with poor public transport locally, a lack of ATMs, substandard internet service and mobile black spots, making it increasingly difficult for customers to access their money.”
In Scotland, almost half – 47 per cent – of its 1,000 bank branches in 2015 had shut down by 2021.
Residents in Glasgow North East, which covers Springburn, Dennistoun and Robroyston, have been left with no bank branches at all.
The number of people using in-person banking services has been declining for years as more customers move to online banking.
This trend increased during the pandemic.
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However, branches are vital for the vulnerable, elderly and anyone who may need advice face-to-face.
Barclays has announced the closure of 15 branches across the country, meaning over 100 banks are to shut down so far this year.
