Barclays Bank on branch closing spree
Barclays Bank has just revealed 15 new branch closures, on top of the 13 it confirmed in March, 27 in May, and 29 in June – all of which are set to shut this year.
Since the start of 2022, the bank has already closed dozens of its branches. Based on its current schedule, by the end of the year it will have shuttered 147 sites.
Barclays says that it is responding to shifting consumer trends as more of its customers are doing their banking via digital channels, and less than 10% of its transactions are now done in person.
The bank says it has 10m digital customers, and 70% of its activity can be done digitally.
Barclays is not the only bank that is closing sites. So far this year 248 bank branches have closed, and a further 288 are scheduled to shut by the end of December.
Data from cash machine network Link shows that banks collectively will close 90 branches between now and August 31 alone.
The consumer group says that half of the UK bank branch network has disappeared since it began tracking closures in 2015.
