Various banks will close 48 branches this month and will continue to close more as the year goes on. This includes Halifax and Lloyds. Barclays and the Bank of Scotland. Barclays will close 21 branches, Halifax will close 14, and Lloyds will close 12. The Bank of Scotland will close only one.
Why are the Banks Closing?
The banks blame the surge in online banking, which reduces the need for customers to visit physical branches. Although shutting down branches is necessary to reduce the costs of maintaining buildings (which becomes increasingly redundant as online customers increase), it is important to consider what may become of consumer groups who are less familiar with online resources.
For example, many elderly people looking to manage their pension and taxes, living on their own with few to help them, may struggle to understand the complexities of online technology that may form when one is used to physical practices.
The Rest of the Year?
The NatWest group has announced the closure of 47 more branches this year. A multitude of high street banks, such as NatWest, Barclays, and Halifax announced the closure of 189 branches by the end of 2024.
Due to the rise in demand for online banking and mobile services, over-the-counter transactions have dropped 60% from 2019 to 2023, according to LBC. Bank branches have been closing at an alarming rate. 5908 branches of banks and building societies have closed since 2015 according to The Mirror.
What does this mean?
Occurrences such as these make us wonder how long it will be until the world runs fully digitally, eradicating the need for physical shops, libraries, banks, etc. However, a significant proportion of the population still doesn’t have access to the internet, let alone electronic devices. Until we solve the problem of poverty and limited access to resources, the world can never (fully) run digitally.
To see if your local branch is affected, visit The Manchester Evening News for the addresses of all closures this month.
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