{"id":141401,"date":"2018-06-15T02:49:22","date_gmt":"2018-06-15T02:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/banks-close-2900-branches-in-three-years-says-which\/"},"modified":"2018-06-15T02:49:22","modified_gmt":"2018-06-15T02:49:22","slug":"banks-close-2900-branches-in-three-years-says-which","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/banks-close-2900-branches-in-three-years-says-which\/","title":{"rendered":"Banks close 2,900 branches in three years, says Which?"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>                                  <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A Barclays branch\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/117B3\/production\/_102030617_gettyimages-801999146.jpg\"\/>Image copyright                  Getty Images<figcaption>Image caption                                      Branches are shutting at an alarming rate, says Which?                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"caps\">About 60 bank branches are closing every month with RBS shutting the most, consumer group Which? has warned.<\/p>\n<p>It found that 2,868 branches will have closed between 2015 and the end of 2018, with the number accelerating this year.<\/p>\n<p>It called the trend &quot;alarming&quot; and said many people were left without proper access to services.<\/p>\n<p>But banks said their branches were losing customers as more people banked online. <\/p>\n<p>According to Which?, the worst offenders are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>RBS, which will close 350 of its own branches in 2015-2018, as well as 638 Natwest branches and 35 Ulster Bank branches<\/li>\n<li>Lloyds, which is closing 366 of its own branches, 87 Bank of Scotland branches and 55 Halifax branches<\/li>\n<li>And HSBC, which will close 440.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By region Which? said Scotland had been worst hit, with 368 branches due to have shut by the end of 2018.<\/p>\n<p>That was followed by the South East (361), the North West (353) and South West (327) <\/p>\n<p>Which? money expert Gareth Shaw said: &quot;While the decision is clearly a commercial one for a bank to take, it is also crucial that banks do recognise the needs of their customers and the communities they serve, before simply shutting their doors - and their customers out.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>In 2015 banks signed up to the Access to Banking Standard - an industry-wide agreement that they must must consult with customers about closures and inform them of alternative services.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How one town coped with bank closures<\/li>\n<li>Bank-free zone worry over closures<\/li>\n<li>Protests held over RBS branch closures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But Which? said that while Post Offices and mobile banking trucks were often suggested, they did not offer the same range of services or convenience as branches.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile it said many people &quot;cannot&quot; or do not want to use online services.<\/p>\n<p>An RBS spokesman said: &quot;Since 2014 the number of customers using our branches across the UK has fallen by 40% and mobile transactions have increased by 73% over the same period. <\/p>\n<p>&quot;As customers continue to change the way they bank with us, we must change the way we serve them, so we are investing in our branches and re-shaping our network, replacing traditional bricks and mortar branches with alternative ways to bank.&quot;<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Image caption                                      Rose Ainsworth, 83, sometimes has to walk for an hour to collect her pension                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Llandysul: The &#039;ghost town&#039; with no banks<\/h2>\n<p>Until recently, Rose Ainsworth had four banks and a post office within a five-minute stroll of her front door in Llandysul, Wales.<\/p>\n<p>Today, they have all gone.<\/p>\n<p>Unable to drive, 83-year-old Mrs Ainsworth, who has osteoporosis, now has a 30 mile (48km) round trip via multiple buses to access her nearest banking services.<\/p>\n<p>The other alternative is to grab her walking sticks and attempt the long walk to the relocated post office - a 4 sq m (43 sq ft) plastic kiosk next to the check-out tills at an edge-of-town supermarket.<\/p>\n<p>Read more<\/p>\n<p>A Lloyds spokesman said branches played an important role in customers&#039; lives, but added: &quot;It is important to have branches in the right places, where there is customer demand.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>A spokesman for UK Finance, a banking industry group, said decisions to close branches were only ever taken after all other options - like reducing opening hours and staff numbers - had been exhausted.  <\/p>\n<p>&quot;Technology is not for everyone which is why all the major banks offer day-to-day banking services through 11,500 Post Office branches,&quot; it added. <\/p>\n<p>Banks have also been shutting cash machines at a rapid rate. <\/p>\n<p>In January, Which? identified more than 200 communities in Britain with poor ATM provision, or no cash machines at all. <\/p>\n<p>It comes as banks seek to cut costs and the industry argues there are too many ATMs in places they are not needed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright Getty ImagesImage caption Branches are shutting at an alarming rate, says Which? About 60 bank branches are closing every month with RBS shutting the most, consumer group Which?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}