More than two dozen banks are set to close in Scotland this year, as financial services continue to be stripped from the high street.
Three bank branches closed in January alone, with another five shut in February and a further three branches set to be lost during March.
By November this year, Scottish high streets will have lost 26 branches, with 12 of the closures leaving the surrounding communities with no surviving branch of any bank.
Those closing this year are:
- Bank of Scotland, 816 Govan Road, Govan
- Halifax, 52-54 Union Street, Aberdeen
- Bank of Scotland, Brodick, Isle of Arran
- Halifax, 35-41 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow
- Bank of Scotland, 42 Stuart Street, Millport
- Bank of Scotland, Main Street, Tarbert, Isle Of Harris
- Bank of Scotland, Lochmaddy, Isle Of North Uist
- Halifax, 131-133 Princes Street, Edinburgh
- Barclays, 197 High Street, Perth
- Barclays, 24 High Street, Dundee
- Bank of Scotland, 174 Byres Road, Glasgow
- Barclays, 78-80 Kilmarnock Road, Shawlands
- Bank of Scotland, Harbour Street, Tarbert
- Bank of Scotland, Shore Street, Bowmore
- Barclays, 225-227 High Street, Ayr
- Barclays, Unit 79, The Centre, Livingston
- Barclays, 19a Union Street, Inverness
- Bank of Scotland, 40 High Street, Jedburgh
- Bank of Scotland, 17 Dalrymple Street, Girvan
- Bank of Scotland, 95 High Street, Dunbar
- Bank of Scotland, Main Road, Aviemore
- Bank of Scotland, The Cross, Cupar
- Bank of Scotland, 43-45 Townhead Street, Cumnock
- Bank of Scotland, 1 Galvelmore Street, Crieff
- Bank of Scotland, Shore Road, Kilcreggan
- Royal Bank of Scotland, 23 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow
They are among 245 banks across the whole UK set to close in 2024, with another six branches also due to shut, but with no end date yet announced.
Meanwhile, the closure of 15 banks across the UK in 2025 has already been announced. As yet, none of next year’s closures affect Scotland.
You can see which banks are closing or have closed in your area using our interactive map:
Given recent trends, it is likely more closures will be announced.
Since February 2022 – when a voluntary agreement saw the major banking groups commit to assessing the impact of every closure – 1,325 banks have either shut or announced their intention to close. That’s an average of 55 closures announced every month, or almost two per day.
The LINK initiative to assess the impact of closures – which was agreed by all the major banks – was set up to ensure vulnerable customers and small businesses were not left behind in the switch to cashless payments and virtual banking.
When closures leave communities without any local bank, banking hubs or free ATMs are set up to fill the gap.
Cash Access UK, the organisation set up to protect nationwide access to cash, confirmed Scotland’ss latest permanent Banking Hub in Forres, is now open.
Located at 96 High Street, it was officially opened by Douglas Ross, MP for Moray, and Richard Lochhead, MSP For Moray. As a result, the temporary hub at the Moray Firth Credit Union has now closed.
The hub will offer a counter service operated by the Post Office, where customers of all major banks and building societies can carry out regular cash transactions during the working week, alongside a ‘community banker’ service where customers can talk to their own bank about more complicated issues on certain days.
The charity Age UK has called for branch closures to be put on hold until more banking hubs have opened in areas with no alternative services.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director for Age UK, said: “The continuing avalanche of bank branch closures means that by the end of this year there will be considerably fewer opportunities for face-to-face banking than there were even just a couple of years ago.
“Older people living in rural and semi-rural areas are likely to be the hardest hit, but those in towns and cities are not immune.
“Our research found that more than four million older people with a bank account in Britain are not managing their money online and so are at high risk of digital exclusion.
“Age UK is calling for the protection of physical banking services for those who do not, or cannot bank online, and for the accelerated roll-out of shared banking hubs in areas where bank branches are fast withering away,“ she continued, adding: “The disappearance of face-to-face banking risks cutting a significant minority of the older population out of an essential service, making it difficult if not impossible for them to manage their money and maintain their independence.”
Chris Ashton, head of banking at LINK, said: “Despite the fact that more people are banking and shopping online, meaning they’re not visiting ATMs or bank branches as often as they used to, our data shows that over 70% of people still used cash in the last two weeks.
“We assess each and every bank closure as it’s critical that we’re able to provide free access to cash and face-to-face banking services in communities across the UK.
“Since 2021, we have recommended 106 new banking hubs which will help bring life back to the high street and ensure that communities can still access cash and basic banking services locally.”
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