NatWest and RBS to close 19 more bank branches next year

NatWest will close more branches next year, adding to the thousands of banks that have disappeared from Britain’s high streets.

A further 19 branches will be closed as more customers turn to online banking, a blow to those who rely on face-to-face services.

Thousands of branches have closed in recent years and more than 500 will be closed by 2023.

The closures mainly affect elderly and vulnerable people, as well as small businesses that need easy access to cash.

Yesterday the company said it plans to close 18 NatWest branches in February and March next year.

Five of these are in London, while Birmingham, Liverpool and Bradford are among the other cities set to be affected.

An RBS location in Glasgow is also set to close, but will remain open until November 2024.

RBS and NatWest, which are partly taxpayer-owned after being bailed out during the financial crisis, were named and shamed earlier this year as among the worst offenders of bank closures.

RBS has closed 451 branches since 2015, which is more than 80 percent of its network, while NatWest has closed 61.8 percent of its locations.

By the end of 2023, the bank will have eliminated 838 locations in eight years.

Age UK managing director Caroline Abrahams said: ‘The ongoing avalanche of closures means that by the end of this year there will be significantly fewer options for face-to-face banking than there were just a few years ago.

‘Elderly people living in rural and semi-rural areas are likely to be hardest hit, but those in towns and cities are not immune.

“The reality is that it is becoming increasingly difficult for almost everyone to bank face-to-face, potentially leaving millions of older people who are not online at a loss.” In September, an analysis by the Mail on Sunday found that more than 2.2 million Britons live in a constituency without a single bank.

Millions of people live in a so-called banking desert because 23 constituencies do not have a single branch, figures from Which? showed. It comes as the average number of over-the-counter transactions at NatWest Group branches has fallen by 60 per cent in the four years to January 2023.

NatWest said: ‘Most of our customers are switching to mobile and online banking as it is faster and easier for people to manage their financial lives.

‘We understand and recognize that digital solutions are not suitable for everyone and every situation, and that when closing branches we must ensure that no one is left behind.

‘We take seriously our responsibility to support people who face challenges getting online, so we are investing to provide them with support and alternatives that work for them.’