HALIFAX will shut even more branches over the next year in another crushing blow to customers.
Lloyds Banking Group, which owns Halifax, has confirmed that it will close 69 branches over the next year.
The closures come as big banks look to move more of their services online.
The first of the 69 branch closures began on January 8, 2024, but sites will continue to close their shutters until January 15, 2025.
Here is the list of 22 new sites marked for closure:
- Aberdare – July 29, 2024
- Abergavenny – August 5, 2024
- Aberystwyth – July 29, 2024
- Acomb – January 15, 2025
- Alnwick – January 15, 2025
- Andover – July 25, 2024
- Biggleswade – July 31, 2024
- Cosham – July 1, 2024
- Exmouth – August 7, 2024
- Frome – July 2, 2024
- Garforth – July 2, 2024
- Haverfordwest – August 8, 2024
- Keynsham – January 14, 2025
- Loughton – August 19, 2024
- Midsomer Norton – August 21, 2024
- Prestwich – September 5, 2024
- Redhill – August 22, 2024
- Saffron Walden – June 26, 2024
- Sheffield – July 9, 2024
- Sudbury – August 12, 2024
- Wetherby – January 13, 2025
- Whitby – January 14, 2025
Here’s a list of the remaining 47 Halifax branches set to close or already shut to customers:
- Aberdeen – January 11, 2024
- Barkingside – April 15, 2024
- Barnet – March 12, 2024
- Barry – March 18, 2024
- Batley – June 24, 2024
- Bicester – February 7, 2024
- Bodmin – June 20, 2024
- Borehamwood – April 18, 2024
- Bridgwater – April 23, 2024
- Cleckheaton – January 31, 2024
- Dagenham – May 15, 2024
- Dartford – March 18, 2024
- Daventry – April 17, 2024
- Dereham – March 14, 2024
- Diss – March 20, 2024
- Doncaster – April 8, 2024
- Edinburgh – February 26, 2024
- Glasgow – February 5, 2024
- Gosforth – January 8, 2024
- Hailsham – September 19, 2024
- Hatfield – June 25, 2024
- Herne Bay – April 17, 2024
- Hessle – August 15, 2024
- Ilkley – January 15, 2024
- Larne – May 29, 2024
- Leeds – January 9, 2024
- Lymington – March 11, 2024
- Macclesfield – March 11, 2024
- Morley – April 16, 2024
- New Milton – April 23, 2024
- Newton Aycliffe – March 27, 2024
- Normanton – July 8, 2024
- Orpington – March 12, 2024
- Ossett – April 9, 2024
- Otley – March 26, 2024
- Penrith – March 19, 2024
- Penzance – February 20, 2024
- Porthcawl – March 26, 2024
- Prescot – April 8, 2024
- Sheldon – April 22, 2024
- Sidcup – July 11, 2024
- Spalding – April 18, 2024
- Stafford – April 8, 2024
- Stamford – March 14, 2024
- Stourbridge – January 10, 2024
- Uckfield – September 18, 2024
- Whitehaven – April 9, 2024
Other big lenders have also been shutting branches, including HSBC, NatWest, Lloyds, Virgin Money and Halifax.
The closures are largely due to increased customers at major high street banks shifting to banking online and using apps.
Many people, particularly the elderly, still rely on in-person services, and the closures will make it more difficult for this demographic to access services.
But there are still several ways in which affected customers can access basic banking services without having to venture to the next town.
You can use one of the Post Office’s 11,684 branches to perform basic banking tasks, but you cannot open new bank accounts or take personal loans and mortgages.
Many banks also offer a mobile banking service. This is where your bank brings a bus to your local area with the services usually available at your branch.
You should call your bank to see if it runs a banking bus, and they will be able to tell you where and when it will be parked.
Other banks use buildings such as village halls or libraries to offer mobile banking services.
Banking hubs, which offer traditional shared services, have also been set up in dozens of locations around the UK to help plug the gap.
But more openings are on the way.
How many new banking hubs are planned?
THE first four banking hubs were successfully piloted in 2022 in Brixham, Cambuslang, Cottingham and Rochford.
More have since opened in Acton, Buckingham, Carnoustie and Troon and the following locations:
- Axminster, Devon
- Barnoldswick, Lancashire
- Barton, North Lincolnshire
- Belper, Derbyshire
- Brechin, Angus
- Bury Park, Bedfordshire
- Cambusland, South Lanarkshire
- Carnoustie, Angus
- Cheadle, Staffordshire
- Clay Cross, Derbyshire
- Downham Market, Norfolk
- Haslemere, Surrey
- Hornsea, East Yorkshire
- Horwich, Bolton
- Kilkeel, County Down
- Kilwinning, North Ayrshire
- Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway
- Knaresborough, Harrogate
- Looe, Cornwall
- Lutterworth, Leicestershire
- Maryport, Cumbria
- Newton Aycliffe, County Durham
- Prestatyn, Denbighshire
- Rochford, Essex
- Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire
- Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex
- Stapleford, Nottinghamshire
- Syston, Leicestershire
- Troon, South Ayrshire
- Welling, London
- Welshpool, Powys
Following further branch closures LINK, the UK’s Cash Access and ATM network, has identified a further 83 locations which require banking hubs.
There are 63 banking hubs planned for England in:
- Acomb, York
- Alnwick, Northumberland
- Ampthill, Bedfordshire
- Bacup, Lancashire
- Batley, West Yorkshire
- Bodmin, Cornwall
- Bramhall, Greater Manchester
- Calne, Wiltshire
- Dartmouth, Devon
- Darwen, Lancashire
- Dawlish, Devon
- Dinnington, South Yorkshire
- Earlestown, Merseyside
- Elland, West Yorkshire
- Enfield North, Middlesex
- Ferryhill, County Durham
- Filey, North Yorkshire
- Great Harwood, Lancashire
- Harleston, Norfolk
- Hatfield, Hertfordshire
- Haverhill, Suffolk
- Helston, Cornwall
- Hessle, East Riding
- Heywood, Rochdale
- Holt, Norfolk
- Keynsham, Somerset
- Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire
- Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire
- Market Rasen, Lincolnshire
- Mildenhall, Suffolk
- Moreton, Birkenhead
- New Rossington, South Yorkshire
- Newland, Hull
- Oakham, Rutland
- Ossett, West Yorkshire
- Otley, West Yorkshire
- Pershore, Worcestershire
- Prescot, Merseyside
- Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester
- Richmond, North Yorkshire
- Royston, Hertfordshire
- Saltash, Cornwall
- Seaham, County Durham
- Sherborne, Dorset
- Shirebrook, Derbyshire
- Sidmouth, Devon
- South Elmsall, West Yorkshire
- Stalybridge, Greater Manchester
- Stone, Staffordshire
- Teignmouth, Devon
- Thorne, South Yorkshire
- Ulverston, Cumbria
- Ware, Hertfordshire
- Wath Upon Dearne, South Yorkshire
- Watton, Norfolk
- Wellington, Somerset
- West Drayton, Middlesex
- West Kirby, Wirral
- Westhoughton, Greater Manchester
- Wetherby, West Yorkshire
- Whitby, North Yorkshire
- Willesden Green, London
- Withernsea, East Yorkshire
Four more banking hubs are planned in Northern Ireland in:
- Comber, County Down
- Newcastle, County Down
- Portrush, County Antrim
- Warrenpoint, County Down
Nine more banking hubs are planned for Scotland in:
- Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross
- Burntisland, Fife
- Carluke, South Lanarkshire
- Crieff, Perth and Kinross
- Cumnock, East Ayrshire
- Forres, Moray
- Girvan, South Ayrshire
- Jedburgh, Scottish Borders
- Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway
Seven more banking hubs are planned for Wales in:
- Abergele, Conwy
- Abertillery, Blaenau Gwent
- Morriston, Swansea
- Mountain Ash, Mid Glamorgan
- Porthcawl, Glamorgan
- Risca, Caerphilly
- Treorchy, Rhondda Cynon Taf
