Lloyds Banking Group has revealed 35 new branch closures, drawing a line under the provision of face-to-face services in 155 sites in total by the end of 2023 and 75 in 2024.
In 2023, it will close 86 Lloyds Bank sites, 53 Halifax branches and 16 Bank of Scotland sites, with a further 75 branches earmarked for closure in 2024.
The bank says that as digital banking has grown, branch visits have fallen, with the use of these sites falling by an average of 56% in the last five years.
A spokesman says: “Our customers are increasingly using digital channels to manage their money – we now have over 20 million customers choosing to bank online.
“We’re introducing more Community Bankers to provide face-to-face banking support in local communities, and our customers can also manage their everyday banking over the phone, through the Post Office or at a Banking Hub.”
Bank branch closures are becoming a commonplace occurence in the UK banking scene.
Virgin Money has announced plans to axe 30% of its branch network, Barclays has committed to shutting down 180 branches this year, NatWest is drawing the blinds on 143 branches, and HSBC has earmarked 114 branches for closure.
