NatWest reveals MORE department closures with 32 retailers set to close their doorways
- Swathes of key locations are set to close amid a push towards online banking
NatWest is closing even more of its bank branches with a further 32 outlets set to shut their doors on loyal customers, This is Money can reveal.
A swathe of key locations across the country – from Chorlton in Manchester to Tooting in London – are set to close amid a push towards digital banking.
The high street bank earlier this week confirmed seven locations were due to shut up shop, including Evesham, Torquay and Cromer.
But now it has revealed it will shut down more of the outlets that elderly and vulnerable customers rely on to manage their money.
The closures were revealed via cash machine website Link
NatWest has not yet made a formal announcement of the closures to its loyal customers or the press but details of the 32 branches set to close appeared on the Link website, which is the UK’s cash machine network.
It is planning to tell customers and colleagues today of the closures. Some customers visiting branches today may learn their outlet is shutting its doors via posters but they may not yet have received a letter telling them of the closure.
These closures are in addition to the 49 branches it shut last year, and the seven closures it confirmed earlier this week.
The news comes after Santander yesterday revealed droves of its branches would shut up shop. Some 44 outlets, including Andover and Leighton Buzzard are due to close.
The closures are yet another nail in the coffin for those who prefer to use face-face-face banking services.
Martin Quinn, of Campaign for Cash, says: ‘There are so many people who are digitally excluded. It’s not just the elderly but the poorer sections of society, too, who don’t have banking apps or even smart phones. They need to be able to speak to someone in a bank branch. The high street is being hollowed out by this.
‘And there are not enough of the banking hubs. We need thousands of them – we need to turbo charge this. The industry isn’t moving fast enough. It’s just too slow.’
Between January, 2015, and December, 2024, 6,609 branches closed, figures shared with This is Money by consumer watchdog Which? show.
It means more than two-thirds of the branch network – 67 per cent – has been destroyed in just ten years as providers shut up shop in favour of online services, which typically cost less to run.
The worst offender was NatWest, which also owns the Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank. Between these three providers, some 1,431 branches have shut.
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Aldershot Ashford (Middlesex) Barnet Boston Brentwood Eastcote Godalming Grays Halifax Harlow Hartlepool Hemel Hempstead Herne Bay Hornchurch Hove Kirkby Lonsdale London – Fulham Broadway London – Spitalfields London – Sydenham London – Tooting London – West End Loughton – Old Station Road – Sainsburys Manchester – Cheetham Hill Manchester – Chorlton Orpington Palmers Green Pontefract Sheffield – Attercliffe – Attercliffe Road South Shields Southall Waltham Cross Welwyn Garden City |
Lloyds Banking Group – which comprises Lloyds, Bank of Scotland and Halifax – has closed its doors in 1,252 spots between January 2015 and the end of 2024.
Meanwhile some 1,230 Barclays branches have closed as well as 477 Santander locations. HSBC has shut 743 branches – in August last year it promised to announce no new closure programmes until at least 2026.
While the bank has not made a formal announcement, it has published ‘guides’ for each of the branches that are closing and has revealed the dates their doors will shut on its website.
A NatWest spokesman says: ‘Our branch network is a central part of how we serve customers, and we continue to invest in this for the future, with an increase in our investment into branches planned over the next three years.
‘However, how our customers choose to bank with us is changing, and our network and services need to reflect customer demand and ensure we are set up to deliver the best possible support. Through our unique mobile branches, Community Banking Hubs, Post Office partnerships and the largest free-to-use ATM network of any bank, we are committed to providing customers with access to banking in ways that best suit their needs.
‘We carefully assess where and when we make the difficult decision to close a branch to minimise the impact any change may have on our customers and colleagues.’
It is expected customers will be told of other ways they can bank via letters and when they go into branches.
