NatWest is closing 23 more branches around the UK as more people move to banking online, it has confirmed. The high street lender announced on Thursday (January 26) it is shutting 21 sites in England and two in Wales in 2023. This is on top of the 43 closures the bank announced last October.
The branches closing include sites in Southampton, Exeter, Blackpool and Torquay, which will shut their doors for good between April and the start of June. Timings for the closure of two sites – Horwich, in Greater Manchester, and Shoreham-by-Sea, in West Sussex – are still to be confirmed.
The lender said last year the vast majority of its retail banking services could be carried out online and it was the “quicker and easier” way to bank. But it acknowledged certain customers might be concerned about the closures and said it would make sure “no one is left behind”.
NatWest previously said average counter transactions had shrunk by nearly two-thirds between January 2019 and January 2022, while there was a 39% rise in people using mobile apps during the same period. Last year, the bank also announced 15 branch closures in May and 21 in February.
The news comes a week after Lloyds Banking Group said it would close 40 Halifax and Lloyds sites in England and Wales, blaming a decrease in footfall during the pandemic and a rise in the use of its digital services. According to Lloyds, the number of people visiting the branches it plans to shut has fallen by 60% on average over five years.
So far in 2023, some 87 bank branches around the UK are set to be closed down.
Just last week, Barclays confirmed plans to shut 15 more of its branches. The lender had already earmarked 11 sites for closure this year.
Full list of 23 NatWest bank branches set to close Southampton, 416 Bitterne Road – April 25, 2023 Blackpool, 344 Lytham Road – April 25, 2023 London, 145 Clapham High Street – April 26, 2023 Stroud, Bank Buildings – April 26, 2023 Fleet, 176 Fleet Road – April 27, 2023 Heslington, Main Street – April 27, 2023 Horwich, 27 Lee Lane – TBC Dunstable, 4 High Street North – May 3, 2023 Maidstone, 197 Sutton Road – May 4, 2023 Exeter, 18 St. Thomas Centre – May 9, 2023 Bootle, 329 Stanley Road – May 10, 2023 Crawley, Gatwick Road – May 11, 2023 Frome, 4 Market Place – May 11, 2023 Broadwater, 5 Broadwater Street East – May 16, 2023 Colwyn Bay, 2 Abergele Road – May 17, 2023 Ilminster, 10 East Street – May 18, 2023 London, 10 Marylebone High Street – May 23, 2023 Sheerness, 29 High Street – May 24, 2023 Shoreham-by-Sea, 21 East Street – TBC Llansamlet, Phoenix Way – May 25, 2023 Cranbrook, High Street – May 30, 2023 Torquay, 128 Newton Road – May 31, 2023 Birstall, 659 Loughborough Road – June 1, 2023READ NEXT
Full list of the Barclays banks set to close this year as 15 more confirmed
Full list of 40 more Halifax and Lloyds bank branches to close
