Lloyds, Halifax and TSB reveal bank closures - including three in Sheffield

The UK is seeing more and more bank branches close as the industry sees a move to online banking continue.

Earlier this year, Meadowhall’s Virgin Money branch closed on January 5, leaving the nearest Virgin Money store for Sheffield customers at Fargate in the city centre.

Barclay’s have recently announced the closure of 27 more branches in the UK, which will see the bank close 103 by the end of the year. Despite Barclay’s closures not impacting Sheffield stores, they have blamed low customer numbers and a shift to online banking as the reasons to close stores.

Last year, HSBC announced the closure of 82 UK branches between April and September, which saw Sheffield’s Darnall store close.

Now, TSB have confirmed the closure of another Sheffield branch, with the Woodseats branch, Abbey Lane, closing in June.

Following on from this, Lloyds Banking Group have confirmed that 66 Lloyds and Halifax banks will close between October and February of next year. These closures will see two Sheffield branches permanently close – Sheffield Intake branch will close on November 3 2022, and Sheffield The Moor branch will close on November 9 2022.

With all these bank branch closures occuring this year and numerous in previous years, Which? have taken a look at the reasons for the bank closures:

Online Banking and reduced bank usage:

Which? say banks commonly justify closures with the move to online banking and the reduced amount of customers using bank branches.

Recent figures from UK Finance show two thirds of UK adults, or 72 per cent, used online banking and 54 per cent used mobile banking in 2020.

In 2017, the average branch received 104 visits a day, whilst in 2012 this figure stood at 140 a day, showing a 26 per cent drop in bank branch visits.

NatWest and RBS:

NatWest group took the decision to close hundreds of RBS branches in England and Wales as they decided to allow RBS customers to bank in their local NatWest bank, meaning there was less need for RBS bank branches.

Virgin Money mergers:

Back in 2018, CYBG plc, owner of Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank, acquired Virgin Money, and with the brands being phased out in favour of Virgin money, the merger has led to the closing of many bank branches.

Alternatives to bank branches:

Which? say that under the Access to Banking Standard introduced in 2015, banks must engage their customers ahead of a planned closure and offer alternative means of banking. Here are some alternatives to bank branches, according to Which?:

Using the post office:

UK Finance say 99 per cent of retail banking customers can carry out basic banking at more than 11,500 post offices in the UK, however, note that activities at post offices are limited to withdrawing cash from your current account, checking your balance, paying in cash and cheques.

Mobile banking vans:

NatWest Group and Lloyds Banking Group both offer mobile banking vans, which visit communities, allowing you to cash cheques, make deposits and withdrawals, and pay bills.

Tech Support:

Which? say many banks offer help to people on how to get comfortable with online banking and setting up their accounts, with individual banks having separate initiatives to help customers make the move.

For more information about bank closures, visit Which?.