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Banks are closing branches at a frightening rate across the UK, and now new analysis shows Yorkshire will lose the most banks this year.
According to consumer group Which? main banks have closed 5,355 branches since January 2015. At the end of this year there will be 5,549.
Banks say the closures are necessary because more people are taking care of their money online, not through brick-and-mortar branches. But critics say the dwindling number of bank branches is getting in the way of groups such as the elderly and carers, who are often paid in cash.
Several major banks have announced plans to close even more branches this year. This Is Money has crunched the numbers to find out which regions will have the most banks leaving in 2023.
Banks have closed thousands of branches across the country, creating gaps in shopping streets and leaving many communities with limited access to financial services
Yorkshire is the British region losing the most bank branches this year, with 17 of them set to close.
London will see 13 banks close and Dorset and Cornwall will lose eight each.
But sadly, almost no UK region is immune to bank branch closures this year, with 194 confirmed closures.
That figure is likely to rise, as it comes from announcements made by banks in 2022.
It comes at a time when cash use is on the rise for the first time in 13 years, according to Nationwide, as some people use physical cash to budget amid rising costs.
Some individual cities will be rocked by more than one major bank leaving their communities in less than 12 months.
For example, in the Yorkshire town of Wetherby, which has a population of 11,000, an HSBC branch will close this year, as will a NatWest branch just 30 meters away.
The regions with the most bank branches closing in 2023 are all in England, but Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are also affected
St Neots in Cambridgeshire, with a population of just 36,000, will also lose a branch of HSBC and NatWest in 2023.
Bank branch closures are hitting the elderly hard, according to Dennis Reed, executive director of retired campaign group Silver Voices.
Reed said: “The government needs to step in and stop the banks from this program of closing wholesale branches.
Ministers have talked about securing access to cash, on which millions of elderly people depend, but the banks think otherwise. The banks are only interested in customers who want to bank digitally and those who prefer to bank face-to-face or even by telephone are being made increasingly difficult.’
Bank branch closures can be a particular problem for isolated communities that may not have another bank nearby.
In extreme cases, bank customers have to travel miles to do their banking in person.
As of last April, around 1,700 people on the Isle of St Mary’s in the Isles of Scilly have had to take a ferry or plane to get to a bank as the last branch – Lloyds – closed for good.
The nearest bank branch for these residents is now five hours away by ferry in Penzance, Cornwall.
Sam Richardson, deputy money editor at Which?, said: ‘Bank branch closures are a commercial decision by individual companies, but the impact on local communities, particularly in rural areas, can be significant.
“They not only hinder customers’ ability to deposit and withdraw money locally, but also access face-to-face banking services.
“Government legislation to protect cash cannot come too soon, but new laws risk being undermined if minimum levels of free access to cash are not guaranteed.”
What is being done about bank branch closures
Last May, the government introduced laws protecting access to cash. These laws empowered the Financial Conduct Authority regulator to allow banks and building societies nationwide to withdraw cash and make deposits.
However, these rules only protect the use of cash and do not replace the full range of banking services that are lost if a community loses its last bank.
Rising: ATM withdrawals have been declining for years, but rose in 2022 as people used cash to budget, according to Nationwide
It is also possible to carry out banking services through the post offices. This is because banks pay the post office to offset the impact of branch shuttering.
However, banking this way is limited compared to a standard bank branch. For example, you cannot open a new bank account through a post office or solve your banking problems.
The only banking options allowed at a post office are cash and check deposits, cash withdrawals, and checking your balance. To make matters worse, some banks don’t even allow you to do this limited list.
For example, if you are with Nationwide, you can only deposit cash or check your balance at a post office.
Halifax offers its customers the full – but limited – range of post office banking options, as do big names such as Bank of Scotland and TSB.
Other banks, such as Barclays, have turned on pop-up or mobile banks to fill the void left by fewer permanent branches.
Shared banking hubs is another option cited by banks as a way to offset the impact of branch closings. But currently there are only two, in Rochford, Essex – which Money Mail visited last year – and Cambuslang, Lanarkshire.
What the banks say
A Barclays spokesperson said: ‘Our customer behavior has changed significantly in recent years, with the majority opting for online banking. As we adapt, we are closing less used locations while investing in brilliant customer service and digital technology.”
Barclays says it is setting up pop-up banks called Barclays Local in regions that need physical banking services.
The days of easy access to banks in every city are long gone, with 10 entire constituencies completely unbanked, according to Which?
Jackie Uhi, HSBC’s managing director of UK distribution, said: ‘People are changing the way they bank and footfall in many branches is at an all-time low, and there are no signs of this returning. Remote banking is becoming the norm for the vast majority of us.”
A Santander spokesperson said: “There will be no more branches closed in 2023, except for the five branches announced in 2022 – unless due to an expropriation or some other rare exceptional circumstance.”
A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson said: “Our customers have more choice than ever in how they bank with us and we’ve seen visits to some of our branches drop by as much as 85 per cent over the last five years, as our customers choose to do. more online.
“In addition to our online, mobile and telephony services, we continue to invest in our locations to ensure that they are great places for our customers to work and for colleagues to work, but they need to be in the right places, where they feel comfortable. to feel. -used.’
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