Announcing the latest closures, Santander said 96% of its transactions are now done digitally.
It added that wherever a store is closing, a Santander representative will operate from a nearby banking hub or Santander Local – locations in libraries and community centres where customers can seek help one day each week.
“We will continue to invest in both our branch network – comprising of full-service branches, counter-free branches, reduced-hour branches, Santander Locals, and our increasingly popular work cafes – as well as our digital banking services, so we can be there to support our customers however they choose to bank with us,” Santander said.
With several banks choosing to close branches across the UK, concerns have been raised about “banking deserts”, with parts of Yorkshire leaving people without a bank for 10 miles.
A solution, in the form of so-called “banking hubs”, has also been slow to roll out. Funded by the major high street banks and created by not-for-profit organisation Cash Access UK, they are run by local Post Office managers and customers from multiple banks can use them.
Bucking the trend of banks shutting stores, Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society, has pledged to keep all of its remaining 696 branches open until at least 2030. It has reported rising numbers of customers using its stores in the last year.
However, Nationwide did close 10% of its branches before making the pledge in 2023.