Over the past few years, bank and building society branches have been disappearing from our high streets at a frightening pace.
Banks say that this has been driven by a rapid increase in online and mobile banking, and a rapid decline in the use of physical branches.
Which? has been tracking bank branch closures since 2015. In this guide, you can find out exactly what the state of play is, which banks have closed the most branches and the areas hardest hit.
And our bank branch closure checker allows you to find out which of your local branches closed recently.
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How many bank branches have closed since 2015?
Banks and building societies have closed 6,094 branches since January 2015, at a rate of around 53 each month. This represents more than 60% the branches that were open at the start of 2015. Along with the rest of the figures in this article, this includes branches at 20 major current account providers.
NatWest Group, which comprises NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, has closed 1,385 branches - the most of any banking group. Lloyds Banking Group, made up of Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, has shut down 1,197 sites.
Barclays is the individual bank that has reduced its network the most, with 1,225 branches now closed.
This chart shows the actual number of branches each bank and building society has closed since 2015.
*Virgin Money includes banks previously branded as Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank
Use our bank branch closure checker
To find out whether your local bank branch is closing or has recently closed, we've created a unique tool to show shutting down branches in your local constituency.
Simply select your bank and enter your postcode to find out which branches closed recently and which are about to be lost.
As this tool is continually being updated, it may not include branches from very recent rounds of closures.
*Up to date as of 17/05/2024
Which banks have closed the most branches since 2019?
Bank branch closures reached their peak in 2017, when 867 sites were lost around the UK, at a rate of more than 70 a month. Similarly, some 792 branches closed in 2018.
In 2019, the rate of closures slowed, although some 444 branches still shut their doors for good.
2020 saw the lowest number of branch closures (369), as several banks shelved plans due to the pandemic. Barclays closed the most branches in 2020 (105), followed by TSB (91).
Unfortunately it took less that three months for the number of bank closures planned for 2021 to outstrip those in 2020, eventually reaching 735 for the whole year.
Closures continued into 2022, with a final count of 662 closures by the end of the year. Barclays once again had the most shuttered branches (184).
Another 645 branches closed across 2023, with Barclays yet again leading the pack with 180 closures. Others included NatWest with 138 and HSBC with 114.
So far there have been 410 closures scheduled across 2024: 90 from Barclays, 83 from Lloyds, 76 from Halifax, 68 from NatWest, 31 from Bank of Scotland, 28 from TSB, 20 RBS branches, 10 Ulster Bank branches and four Danske branches.
Already there are 61 closures pencilled in for 2025: 26 from Lloyds, 11 from Halifax, 10 from Bank of Scotland, eight from TSB and six from Barclays.
Of note, M&S Bank closed all its in-store branches at the end of summer 2021 when it stopped offering current accounts, while Metro Bank announced three closures in 2022 - its first closures since we started recording data in 2015.
Nationwide is currently the provider with the most branches remaining open across the country, with 606 outlets still operating. The building society has also pledged to not leave any town or city in which it is based until at least 2028.
The chart shows the number of closures (and scheduled closures) at every brand between January 2019 and December 2025.
Which areas have been hardest hit by bank branch closures?
In terms of volume, the South East has seen the biggest reduction in branches since 2015, with 841 shuttered and another 24 scheduled to close.
However, Scotland was the first part of the UK to see over half of its banks close, with 651 of its 1,041 branches now gone and another 48 set to go.
Bank of Scotland has closed 166 branches in Scotland since 2015, while Royal Bank of Scotland has shut 164.
In the South East, 179 Barclays branches have been shuttered, as well as 158 NatWest branches and 148 Lloyds branches.
This chart shows bank and building society losses at a regional level from January 2015 to the end of 2025 (including scheduled).
Local bank branch closures: how does your area fare?
We've also broken down the data at the level of parliamentary constituency to get an even more granular snapshot of where losses are being most keenly felt. This data has been updated to the new 2023 constituency boundaries.
According to our research, there are currently 28 constituencies without a single bank branch left, while another 55 are down to their last branch.
Look up your parliamentary constituency in this table to see what the state of play is where you live.
Why are so many bank branches closing?
The way we bank has changed dramatically over the past few years, with use of online and mobile rising and fewer people visiting branches.
Banks often point to reduced branch visits and increased use of online and mobile banking when justifying branch closures.
The most recent figures from UK Finance, the banking association, shows two thirds of UK adults (72%) used online banking and over half (54%) used mobile banking in 2020.
However, there are still plenty of people and small businesses that rely on local banks, who either don't want to or cannot engage with the digital revolution. This is particularly challenging in rural areas, where people suffer with poor broadband and mobile coverage, and there are higher populations of elderly customers.
Meanwhile, the average branch received 104 visits a day in 2017, compared with 140 per day in 2012. This represents a 26% fall in bank branch visits. Since then the pandemic had a huge effect on people's willingness to visit branches, whilst many branches had their opening hours drastically reduced.
NatWest Group took the decision to close hundreds of Royal Bank of Scotland branches in England and Wales because it now allows customers of that brand to bank in a local NatWest branch. This meant it was running two branches in a high street when there was only a need for one.
Yorkshire Building Society merged with Barnsley, Chelsea and Norwich & Peterborough building societies between 2008 and 2011. The mergers resulted in multiple high street locations within the same town, leading to closures.
CYBG plc, owner of Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank, acquired Virgin Money in 2018. The Clydesdale and Yorkshire brands are currently being phased out in favour of Virgin Money, and the merger has led to many branch closures.
What's being done to protect access to cash?
In the May 2022 Queen's Speech, the government pledged to bring forward a Financial Services and Markets Bill following a longstanding Which? campaign calling for cash access to be protected.
The Bill includes a section designed to ensure people across the UK can access their own cash with ease.
Under powers granted to it by the Bill, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed that from 18 September 2024, banks and building societies will be required to make sure they are plugging significant gaps in local cash access.
The FCA says banks and building societies will need to weigh up if local communities lack access to cash services, like branches and ATMs, and plug significant gaps.
Specifically, they will be required to assess cash access and check whether additional services are needed when changes are made to local services, such as the closure of a local branch.
According to the FCA, gaps could be filled with a range of measures, including banking hubs, ATMs and Post Office facilities.
- Find out more: Watchdog uses new powers to protect access to cash
Banking hubs – will your town get one?
Under pressure from campaigners and the government, major high street banks (Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Danske Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, NatWest Group, Santander, TSB, and Virgin Money) have finally agreed to fund shared hubs on a voluntary basis.
Since January 2022, these banks tell Link (the cash machine network) when they’re planning branch closures so it can assess whether that community needs extra cash services, such as a hub.
Communities can also ask Link directly to be assessed.
Currently, just 50 out of a recommended 150 banking hubs have been opened.
Many more are in the pipeline, but they could take years to appear, while other communities could be left without face-to-face banking entirely.
The table below lists the current Link recommendations for banking hubs and deposit services in the UK.
- Find out more: New banking hubs announced to help cash access – are they enough?
What can I do at a banking hub?
Hubs provide counter services run by Post Office staff, where personal and business customers of any bank signed up to the Banking Framework Agreement with the Post Office can carry out basic services such as deposits, withdrawals and paying bills.
They also include private spaces for more complex inquiries, and community bankers on rotation. For example, the Brixham banking hub is shared by Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, Nationwide and Santander. The hubs are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday as standard, but services offered by community bankers are determined by the firms, and may vary due to customer needs.
In contrast, deposit services could be as basic as an automated machine at a local post office or public library, with no face-to-face services. Link told Which? deposit services are primarily to support small businesses and will be recommended where there is a higher demand for retailers to be able to deposit takings, or in places where the remaining banks don’t serve businesses.
What are the other alternatives to bank branches?
Under the Access to Banking Standard, introduced in 2015, banks have a requirement to engage their customers and communities ahead of planned closure, and offer alternative means of banking when a branch closes. Banks must also inform the FCA.
These are some of the solutions on offer:
Using the Post Office
According to UK Finance, 99% of retail banking customers can carry out basic banking at the more than 11,500 Post Offices across the UK.
Post Office banking services are limited to these activities:
- Withdrawing cash from your current account
- Checking your balance
- Paying in cash and cheques (for cheques, you'll need a paying-in slip from your bank and an extra day or two for them to clear)
The list of what you can't do is substantially longer, whether transferring money from your account, or seeking advice and making enquiries about other financial products such as savings or mortgages.
Banks themselves usually demand that customers call into a local branch for anti-fraud checks, or to make an appointment to discuss more complex matters and important legal documents, such as lasting power of attorney or grant of probate.
None of these tasks can be completed at a Post Office.
For more on the effect of bank branch closures on communities, and the limitations of the Post Office as an alternative to bank branches, read our news story and watch the video below:
Community bankers
NatWest Group deploys 'Community Bankers' – professional bank staff who travel to areas with no branches and meet customers in shared local spaces, such as libraries, council buildings or leisure centres. They can have discussions about financial issues, help people find out other ways to bank and at least give customers without a branch face-to-face assistance.
Barclays also offers 'Barclays Local', a network of alternative branch formats in the UK, with a presence in over 200 communities and a further 70 Barclays Local sites planned by summer 2023. This is a flexible community presence in places such as town halls and libraries, mobile vans and recently announced banking pods. Customers can access a range of in-person support such as help with digital banking, financial reviews, balance checks transfers and bill payments. Barclays Local locations can be found on Barclays branch finder.
Mobile banking vans
Both the NatWest Group and Lloyds Banking Group offer mobile banking vans, which visit local communities and allow you to cash cheques, make deposits and withdrawals, and pay bills. They typically visit rural and semi-rural areas once a week. Hit the links to find out where NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland operate.
Barclays also runs a mobile banking van service under its Barclays Local model. In 2023, six electric vehicle banking vans will be added to the existing fleet of 10, enabling Barclays to reach customers in remote locations. You can find out here where Barclays van operates.
Tech support
Many banks offer help to get people feeling comfortable with using mobile and online banking.
RBS has a team of TechXperts, based in branches helping people set up online and mobile banking. They can help people download apps on their devices and show customers how to use them.
Barclays runs a similar initiative through its Digital Eagles, also helping customers use the internet for broader tasks, such as online shopping, setting up email address and staying safe online.
Which? research on bank branch closures
Which? collected bank branch closure data by tracking announcements and contacted banks to confirm our figures. When a bank has refused to do this we have included our unconfirmed figures. Only Barclays has not confirmed its data on branch closures.
