The Nationwide — the UK’s biggest building society — serves around 16 million members, and has nearly 700 branches across the country, including several across the Northwest of England
Nationwide Building Society has promised to keep all of its 696 branches open until at least 2030.
The UK’s biggest building society has now given a two-year extension to the vow it had already made not to close branches, after it reported a rise in customers using them in the last year. However, it comes amid widespread branch closures seen across the wider UK bank and building society sector.
Nationwide insists its near-700 branches are “thriving” though, and its move to keep each of these open has been heralded as “a shot in the arm” to high streets and communities across the nation. Dame Debbie Crosbie, chief executive of Nationwide, said: “Some say branches aren’t commercially viable. Ours are thriving. This isn’t just a business decision. It’s a statement of values.”
But by the end of next year, it is estimated 6,731 branches will have disappeared across the whole sector, as many customers have switched to online and mobile banking. Charities, though, have expressed concerns over vulnerable people’s access to cash and other financial services.
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The Daily Mail reports consumer group Which? has analysed data around bank closures. NatWest and RBS have closed 1,377 branches since 2015, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Lloyds 1,252, Barclays 1,230 and HSBC 743.
Nationwide’s promise bucks the trend and, in dozens of towns and villages, it is understood Nationwide is now the last branch standing. Sir Mel Stride, MP for Central Devon and Shadow Chancellor, recently wrote to Lloyds Bank over concerns about its closure in Okehampton, pencilled in for March 2026.
He said: “Nationwide’s pledge to keep its branches open is a shot in the arm for our high streets and local communities. I know only too well the impact closures have on residents and small businesses – banking services should be local and accessible for everyone.”
However, over a 10-year period, Nationwide closed 152, or 20% of its branches, before it made its non-closure promise in 2023. In the last decade, more than 6,000 UK bank branches have closed, according to consumer group Which?.
But recently, Nationwide warned branch closures have a “disproportionate impact on vulnerable customers, including older people, many of whom rely on face-to-face services and support.”
Martin McTague, chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said: “Bank branches are vital for small firms, so keeping more local outlets open on high streets and in our communities is welcome.
“It will mean preserving cash flow, access to services that online or mobile banking can’t easily replace, and, with the addition of the acquired Virgin Money branches last year, available business banking.”
