Of the major banks, Lloyds has seen the most closure announcements in the last almost four years with 460, followed by Barclays (413), NatWest (350), and Halifax (347)
More than 2,000 UK banks have either shuttered or announced plans to close since the launch of an initiative designed to protect access to cash on the high street.
Since February 2022, the closure of 2,209 bank branches across the UK has been announced. That’s an average of around 11 closure announcements per week, or 49 per month.
In November alone, 24 banks are scheduled to shut, including 16 Lloyds branches. By the end of December, 536 banks will have closed in 2025, with another 72 banks already scheduled to shut in 2026, and 49 more due to close at a date yet to be announced.
Of the major banks, Lloyds has seen the most closure announcements with 460, followed by Barclays (413), NatWest (350), and Halifax (347).
The closures have affected every part of the UK, with Scotland losing 231 banks, Wales 133, and Northern Ireland 57.
Of the 1,788 English banks that have either closed or are due to shut, the South East has been the worst-affected region, with 308 closures, followed by London (285) and the East of England (229).
Of UK council areas, Cornwall has seen the most closures with 47, followed by Leeds (34), and North Yorkshire (32).
The closures have all been announced since a voluntary agreement saw the major banking groups commit to assessing the impact of every closure.
The LINK initiative to assess the impact of closures – which was agreed by all the major banks, including Barclays, HSBC, Natwest, Lloyds, and Halifax – was set up to ensure vulnerable customers and small businesses were not left behind in the switch to cashless payments and virtual banking.
When closures leave communities without any local bank, banking hubs or free ATMs are set up to fill the gap.
A recent report published by the House of Commons Library said that the provision of cash and banking services had fallen partly because of “changing consumer behaviour” and the move towards online banking and digital payments.
However, the report also noted that the reduction was being “driven by industry changes such as the reduction in the amount ATM operators earn when ATMs are used”.
Chris Ashton, LINK’s chief commercial officer, said: “It’s our job to protect access to cash, whether that’s through a free to use ATM, Post Office or increasingly through banking hubs.
“The good news is that when any bank branch closes or if a community asks us to assess their local area, we can recommend new services. That could include enhancing existing services like the Post Office or new hubs. To date, we’ve recommended 246.
“We know that not everyone can or is able to use digital and that’s why we will continue to protect access to cash for as long as people need it.”
Gareth Oakley, CEO of Cash Access UK, added: “While more people may be more comfortable or choose to pay or bank for things digitally, we understand how important access to cash and basic banking services are for millions of people who prefer to use cash or are not yet comfortable to use digital.
“The good news is that we’re delivering new services to make sure access to cash is maintained. This includes almost 200 banking hubs and over 100 deposit services, which crucially allow businesses to readily access or deposit cash. Two hubs are opening on average every week and we hope to have the 200th open before Christmas.”
