Bank branch and ATM closures: other ways to manage your money

Bank branch closures have become a common subject in the last few years.

If you like to bank in person, it’s starting to get much more difficult, as bank and building societies increasingly choose to shut down their branches and instead focus more of their services online.

As a result, every month we seem to have ever more announcements of branches being shut down.

Just this week for example we have had four different banks announce that a further 36 branches are to be shuttered.

First direct is consistently voted one of the best banks for customer service and you can currently bag £175 just for switching to them. Apply for an account here. 

The latest bank branch closures

Here are the latest branches announced to go, and when they are being shut down:

Bank of Scotland

• Isle of Arran - January 31

• Millport, Scotland - February 20

Halifax

• Aberdeen - January 11

• Batley - June 24

• Bicester - February 7

• Bodmin - June 20

• Cleckheaton - January 1

• Edinburgh - February 26

• Glasgow - February 5

• Gosforth - January 8

• Hailsham - February 19

• Hatfield - June 25

• Leeds - Januar 9

• Penzance - February 20

• Sheldon - April 22

• Stourbridge - Janauary 10

• Uckfield - February 

Lloyds

• Batley - June 24

• Bexhill-on-Sea - February 6

• Bodmin - June 20

• Burgess Hill - February 12

• Cradley Heath - February 8

• Gateshead - January 9

• Hailsham - February 19

• Haverhill - June 25

• Hertford - February 12

• Llantwit Major - February 8

• Nailsea - February 2

• Portishead - September 9

• Royston - June 17

• Saffron Walden - February 2

• Seaham - June 19

• Stretford - March 12

• Uckfield - February 1

• Withington - January 9

NatWest

• Princes Street, London - August 29

Local branch closing? Sign up for an account from Starling Bank and manage your finances from your phone

The worst banks for branch closures

These four banks are certainly not the only names to have ditched at least some of their branches of late.

Analysis from Which? has pinpointed the banking names which have closed the most branches since 2015.

Here’s how the top 10 for closures shape up:

A whopping 781 branches have been closed, with another 30 scheduled to go.

It’s also worth noting the situation in Scotland, where more than half of its branches have been closed in the last eight years.

Access to cash

One of the big downsides that come from bank branch closures is that it can make it tricky for people to access their own money.

If the only ATM in your village is operated by the local branch, and it’s being closed, then that can present a challenge.

There may be a rival ATM you can use but which charges you in order to make withdrawals, far from ideal if you’re trying to manage your money properly.

There have been measures to tackle this though, including a new framework published by the Treasury in August which sets out minimum expectations around access to cash.

Essentially the financial regulator has been given new powers to ensure that people should not have to travel any more than three miles in order to be able to make free withdrawals.

An alternative to ATMs

Being able to get hold of your money doesn’t have to mean having a local ATM, of course. 

An alternative comes from the ‘cash at the till’ scheme, operated by the LINK network.

Effectively you can go into a local shop and ask the shopkeeper for cashback.

The money comes from your bank account, and you don’t have to make a purchase to make use of the service. 

You can withdraw any amount from £1 to £50, and crucially you don’t have to limit yourself to just notes ‒ if you need exact change, then you can get that money too.

It’s not a perfect replacement by any stretch, but having a local shop offering this service will at least mean you aren’t so reliant on having a local ATM. 

What about banking hubs?

Another development on this front has been banking hubs, which are effectively shared spaces used by a handful of different banks. 

Each bank basically takes it in turns having staff in hub each day, while there are also counter services run by the Post Office.

There have been eight hubs opened so far in the following locations, with another 61 set to be launched in the next 12 months:

Mobile banking

If you can't beat them, join them.

Mobile banking apps have improved over the last few years and many are now easier to use than internet banking on your computer.

Many apps allow you to log in using just your thumbprint instead of using complicated passwords.

Some of these apps have other useful features, such as freezing your debit card or accessing cash if you’ve lost your card, all at the touch of a button.

There is of course one major drawback to relying on mobile banking ‒ if a bank’s systems go down, you could find yourself unable to access your money and may need to go to a branch.

As a result, it can make a lot of sense to set up a backup bank account or at least a credit card so that you still have payment options should things go wrong.

New to mobile banking? You can learn more about how each app works with our series of app reviews.

First direct is regularly voted one of the best banks for customer service and you can currently bag £175 when switching to them. Apply for an account here. 

Use the Post Office instead

If you aren't keen on the app route, then head to your local Post Office.

The majority of personal banking customers and three-quarters of business banking customers can use the Post Office for withdrawing and depositing cash or cheques and to check their bank balance.

It’s free and there’s no need to register, just bring your debit card with you. You can find your local Post Office branch here.

It’s by no means a like-for-like replacement for a local bank branch, so you’ll find some services are more restricted.

For example, to pay in cheques you may need a paying-in slip and deposit envelope from your actual bank (they should give you this for free if asked).

For account queries, changing details or applying for bank accounts, you will need to phone your bank directly or go to a branch.

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