NatWest is planning to close 30 more bank branches in 2024, according to a report by GBNews.
This most recent revelation of branch closures just adds to the dozens of closures that have taken place in recent months. The report lists the locations of the branches which also includes some from Ulster bBank as well as one from RBS.
While not really aggressively promoting the closure of bank locations, NatWest explains that the “way people bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years.”
“While we respond to that demand, we recognise our responsibility to provide customers who feel less able to make use of these services with support for the change. That’s why we are communicating with our customers affected by the closure and proactively contacting vulnerable customers and regular branch users. We must review our branches and make sure they are in locations where customers use them most.”
Local customers will be given 12 weeks notice of a closure.
The Telegraph reports that three million people will not have access to a bank in their constituency by the end of the year. Physical bank desserts are becoming more common. The report highlights the fact that over half of bank branches in the UK have shuttered since 2015 and during the past decade about 54 or so branches have closed each month.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) along with the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) periodically review cash access coverage in the UK. The most recent update claims that 99.3% of the UK urban population are within 1 mile of a free-to-use cash access and 98.7% of the UK rural population are within 3 miles of a free-to-use cash withdrawals. So if you want cash its pretty easy to access via an ATM somewhere.
NatWest highlights the alternatives to banking at a physical location touting the NatWest app as well as online and video banking. You can also visit a post office where you can use your debit card to deposit or withdraw.
The truth about bank branches is that mostly people over a certain age are users – and this group is shrinking fast. The youngs try to avoid going to a bank branch as much as possible. It was recently reported that more than a fifth of consumers have not visited a bank in more than a year – and 16% of British folks haven’t visited a branch in the past two years. And why would you blame them? Standing in line to speak to a single teller is not fun and a waste of time – especially when you can manage just about every bank service online. Eventually everything will be digital. At the same time, traditional banks need to close these expensive locations as fast as possible to adapt to the new Fintech reality. The digital banking sector continues to grow and old bank branches are becoming a thing of the past. At some point digital banking will be bigger than the brick and mortar crowd. And that’s a good thing.