EXCLUSIVE One in four senior bank staff say closing branches 'isn't a concern'

Daily Mail​

10 hours ago

More than a quarter of senior banking professionals say the closure of bank branches isn't a major concern for their business, figures seen by This is Money reveal.
While as many as 27 per cent of senior bank staff said branch closures weren't a challenge to their business, the same cannot be said for the public.
There is growing concern over access to bank branches, as more find themselves living in bank and cash machine deserts.
Some 60 per cent of bank customers said closures have made it more difficult to speak to a member of staff, according to the data from credit information provider CRIF.
A majority also said banks are now less focused on serving and looking after their customers than they were five years ago.
A third said the increasing numbers of bank closures have made it more confusing to get what they need form their bank because they are now unable to speak to bank staff directly and instead often have to find information on their website.
As many as 13million banking customers still rely on physical branches, recent figures from the Financial Conduct Authority reveal.
Sara Costantini, regional director for the UK and Ireland at CRIF, said: 'Financial services have changed rapidly over the last decade, as people continue to embrace digital banking and manage multiple aspects of their finances online.
'The knock-on impact of this has been the reduction in physical, in-person banking services.
'While many working in the sector don't see this as a major challenge to their business, bank branch reductions are continuing to fuel concerns over the quality of customer services and what further closures may mean for the future.'
How many bank branches are closing?
According to data from Which?, some 379 bank closures have been earmarked for 2025, with a further 22 already planned for 2026.
This is despite rules brought in last year that banks must prove to regulators that local communities will still have free cash access if they close their branch.
Since 2015, there have been as many as 6,377 branch closures across the UK, meaning two thirds of all the branches open in 2015 have now closed.
Bank closures are increasingly giving rise to the creation of banking deserts. Data from Nomis shows that in 2024 there are as many as 15 'grey zones' in the UK.
North East Derbyshire, a district with more than 100,000 residents, has no bank branches whatsoever.
In the CRIF survey, a fifth of consumers said they are concerned about the closure of more bank branches over the coming five years.
Costantini said: 'The findings highlight the difficult tightrope that banks now need to walk, balancing the need to ensure their digital services remain cutting edge and up to scratch, which has become a competitive area for so many, without losing the personal touch that more traditional services offer.'
Meanwhile, its not just bank branches that are shutting their doors.
Between October 2019 and January 2024, there was 30 per cent reduction in the size of the UK's ATM network, likewise creating ATM dead zones and stifling Britons' access to cash.
Some 23,000 ATM's are expected to be closed, leaving just 15,000 across the country, according to the UK's ATM network, Link.