Which Barclays bank branches are closing in the UK?

Barclays bank has announced that it will close 14 more branches across England and Wales in June 2023. This is in addition to the 55 branches that the bank had already planned to shut this year, making at least 69 Barclays branches that will shut down in 2023. The move from Barclays comes as other major banks have closed branches due to the increasing number of customers who prefer online banking. Lloyds, Barclays, NatWest, HSBC and Santander have all shut more than half of their branches since 2015. As a result, Barclays customers will now need to depend on “banking pods” and pop-up sites for in-person support.

These “banking pods” are semi-permanent sites that can be moved across different towns and cities to satisfy demands. Barclays currently has 200 pop-up sites and ten “banking pods” and has plans to add another 70 pop-up sites in the near future. Moreover, Barclays also runs an educational and support van service to provide financial advice to their customers. A Barclays spokesperson said, “As visits to branches continue to fall, we need to adapt to provide the best service for all our customers. Where there is no longer enough demand to support a branch, we maintain an in-person presence though our Barclays Local network, live in over 200 locations, based in libraries, town halls, mobile vans and our new banking pods. We also support access to cash with our cashback without purchase service, 24-hour deposit-taking ATMs and by working alongside the Post Office and Cash Access UK.”

Bank closures in the UK have grown rampant since 2015, with an average of 54 banks closing per month. This has impacted several regions, with some residents having to travel up to 15 miles to get to their closest branch. This rocketed with the pandemic’s full impact on the high street, leading to an enormous number of shops and banks closing down. As more customers are shifting to online banking, the speed of branch closures has been exacerbated. Closures have also dramatically cut the costs of these banks, resulting in their decision to reduce the number of branches.

In conclusion, Barclays has joined other major banks in announcing new branch closures across the country as a result of the increasing number of customers who prefer online banking. As a response, Barclays will rely more on semi-permanent sites and pop-up sites. This step may result in a fall of customer visits to brick-and-mortar banks across the country, with customers preferring to perform digital transactions.



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