Lloyds announcement another blow in a year that's seen RBS and Halifax close hundreds of branches. Here's what you can do if you are affected.
Lloyds Bank is to close 15 more bank branches in a blow to thousands of customers.
The closures come in addition to the 49 Lloyds and Halifax branches that were already earmarked for closure between July and October.
The latest cull will see the 15 branches cease to operate between January and March next year.
Lloyds has blamed the latest closures on “changing customer behaviour and the reduced number of transactions being made in branches", adding that “all branches announced for closure have a Post Office less than half-a-mile away so customers can still access their banking locally."
You can see the full list of branches that have closed or are set to close below. Click here to find out more about banking at the Post Office.
RBS also closing branches
Of course, it's not just Lloyds closing branches. Earlier this year, RBS said it will close 162 branches in a move that will see almost 800 staff lose their jobs.
The banking giant shut 109 branches in July and August and another 53 will close in November.
RBS blames the closures on the decision not to launch the Williams & Glyn challenger bank.
It also rolled out the (oft-repeated) line that big changes in the way people access money mean fewer people need physical branches these days.
"Since 2014, branch transactions across Royal Bank of Scotland in England & Wales are down 30%," a bank spokesperson stated.
"During this same period, there has been a 53% increase in the number of customers using mobile banking and mobile transactions have increased by 74%."
The bank said RBS customers in England & Wales would be able to use NatWest branches for their banking and added will all closing branches were within 2.5 miles of another RBS or NatWest branch.
Again, you can find the full list of branches to be closed below.
Fed up with your bank? Compare current accounts with LoveMONEY
What to do if your branch is closing
If you bank with Lloyds, Halifax or RBS then firstly check the list below to see if your local branch is closing.
Anyone who is facing the loss of their local bank branch has a number of options and we've put together a guide to these here.
If you do need counter services you can use your local Post Office to pay money into your account, check your balance and withdraw cash. For anything else, you’ll need to travel to your nearest branch.
RBS customers will still be able to use NatWest branches, whilst Lloyds is setting up 'micro' branches to help customers with digital banking.
Alternatively, you could switch to a bank that still has a branch you can easily get to.
The danger with this is you could move to another bank only for them to close your local branch.
It isn’t just RBS and Lloyds that has been getting rid of local branches; the Yorkshire Building Society announced large numbers of branch closures last year, and other banks have been shutting up shops too.
Compare current accounts with LoveMONEY
One way to increase your chances of keeping a local bank is to move to one of the so-called challenger banks. Brands such as Handelsbanken and Metro Bank are focused on expanding their reach with numerous new branches opening around the country.
Metro Bank has opened over 50 outlets since it came to the UK back in 2010 and aims to have 110 branches by 2020.
Handelsbanken had just 26 UK branches back in 2006, but now it has more than 200 and is planning on opening even more.
Which branches are closing?
The RBS branches that are set to close are:
Closing in late July
- Ashton-under-Lyne
- Bakewell
- Barrow-in-Furness
- Barry
- Blackpool South Shore
- Bramhall
- Chichester
- Colwyn Bay
- Crawley
- Folkestone
- Grimsby
- London Belgravia
- London Blackfriars
- London Bond Street
- London Ealing
- London Streatham
- Manchester Cheetham Hill
- Manchester Spinningfields
- Manchester Whitworth Street
- Nantwich
- Nuneaton
- Wrexham
Closing in August
- Accrington
- Ashford
- Barnsley
- Basingstoke
- Bristol Clifton
- Bromley
- Burton Upon Trent
- Bury St. Edmunds
- Canterbury
- Carlisle Lowther Street
- Cheadle
- Cleveleys
- Dartford
- Durham
- Edgbaston
- Ellesmere Port
- Fareham
- Farnworth
- Garstang
- Gloucester
- Great Yarmouth
- Halifax
- Hanley
- Harrogate
- Heaton Chapel
- Hemel Hempstead
- Hereford
- High Wycombe
- Horsham
- Horwich
- Hyde
- Ilford
- Kendal
- Kidderminster
- King's Lynn
- Knutsford
- Lancaster
- Lincoln
- Liverpool Bootle
- Liverpool Speke & Hunts Cross
- Llandudno
- London Camden Town
- London Mayfair
- London Piccadilly Circus
- London St. Paul's
- London Tottenham Court Road
- Long Eaton
- Loughborough
- Luton
- Maidenhead
- Maidstone
- Manchester Chorlton-Cum-Hardy
- Manchester Urmston
- Mansfield
- Middlesbrough
- Middleton
- Newcastle-under-Lyme
- Newport
- Oldham
- Rochdale
- Romford
- Rugby
- Sale
- Salisbury
- Sandbach
- Scarborough
- Scunthorpe
- Shrewsbury
- Slough
- Solihull
- St. Albans
- St. Annes On Sea
- Stafford
- Sunderland
- Sutton
- Sutton Coldfield
- Taunton
- Truro
- Tunbridge Wells
- Uttoxeter
- Uxbridge
- Wakefield
- Walsall
- Wickersley
- Winchester
- Woking
- Worcester
Closing in November
- Alderley Edge
- Astley Bridge Bolton
- Bedford
- Blackburn
- Blackpool Bispham
- Bolton Chorley Old Road
- Broomhill
- Burnley
- Bury
- Cambridge Hills Road
- Cardiff Docks
- Carlisle Castle Street
- Cheadle Hulme
- Chorley
- Denton
- Derby Allestree
- Eccles
- Fulwood
- Hale
- Handforth
- Ince
- Leyland
- Liverpool Birkenhead
- London Willesden
- Manchester Gorton
- Manchester Longsight
- Manchester Mosley Street
- Manchester West Didsbury
- Manchester Withington
- Meadowhall
- Newbury
- Northampton
- Nottingham Mapperley
- Ormskirk
- Oxford
- Penwortham
- Poole
- Portsmouth
- Poynton
- Rotherham
- Royal Leamington Spa
- Runcorn
- Salford Shopping Centre
- Southend-on-Sea
- Southport Birkdale
- Stockport Great Underbank
- Swinton Chorley Road
- Telford
- Torquay
- Walkden
- Warrington Office
- Wollaton
- Worthing
The Lloyds branches that are set to close are:
- Alford, Lincolnshire
- Bishops Cleeve, Cotswolds
- Bovey Tracey, South Devon
- Bridgend Industrial Estate, South Wales
- Brierley Hill, West Midlands
- Brightlingsea, Essex
- Butler Place, West End
- Chatteris, The Fens
- Clare, Essex
- Cockermouth, North Lancashire & Cumbria
- Colchester University of Essex, Essex
- Coningsby, Lincolnshire
- Cricklade, Cotswolds
- Croydon George Street, South East London
- Dawlish, South Devon
- East Wittering, Surrey & South Downs
- Frinton-on-Sea, Essex
- Hassocks, Sussex
- Hednesford, South Staffordshire
- Henley-in-Arden, Cotswolds
- Hull Derringham, North & East Yorkshire
- Keswick, North Lancashire & Cumbria
- Lakenheath, The Fens
- Ledbury, East Wales & Borders
- Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire
- Midhurst, Solent
- Ottery St Mary, Somerset & Devon
- Plymouth Southway, South Devon
- Royton, Central Lancashire
- Rye, Kent
- Selsey, Surrey and South Downs
- Soham, The Fens
- St Leonards-on-Sea Silverhill, Kent
- Stalybridge, Manchester
- Stevenage High Street, Hertfordshire
- Teddington, South West London
- Upton-upon-Severn, Severn
- Watton, East Anglia
- Wealdstone, North West London
- West Ealing, West London
- Wingham, Kent
And those set to close in January-March 2019:
The Halifax branches due to close are:
- Chester St Werburgh
- Harold Hill
- Knightsbridge
- Portswood
- Preston Orchard Street
- Sowerby Bridge
- Walsall Park Street
- York Davygate