HSBC has announced plans to shut 82 UK branches this year after a shift towards telephone and internet banking.
The bank said it would “aim to redeploy all customer service colleagues who are impacted… into suitable nearby locations” but did not immediately say how many jobs were affected.
HSBC said the decision reflected “local market trends, customer behaviour and branch usage” and would see the total number of branches reduced to 511.
It said the closures are part of plans to become a market-leading digital bank and an overhaul of how remaining branches will operate.
Of the 82 sites closing, 81 are within a mile of a Post Office, two thirds are within five miles of another HSBC branch and nine in 10 are within 10 miles, HSBC added.
HSBC said that even before counting the impact of the pandemic, the number of customers using branches has fallen by a third in the last five years.
The bank said 90% of all customer contact with it was over the phone, internet or smartphone and that staff talk with more than 100,000 customers a week on social media.
Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK’s head of network, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised the need for the changes that we are making.
“It hasn’t pushed us in a different direction but reinforces the things that we were focusing on before and has crystallised our thinking.
“This is a strategic direction that we need to take to have a branch network fit for the future.”
The closures follow 164 announced by TSB adding to thousands that have disappeared from Britain’s high streets in recent years from across the sector.
A recent report by consumer group Which? found banks and building societies had closed, or scheduled to close, 3,770 branches since January 2015.
The latest HSBC closures will take place between 23 April and 24 September.
These are the affected sites and their expected closure dates:
April
Edinburgh, Princes Street
May
Brighton, Ditchling Road
Hull, Merit House
Wednesbury
Sutton Coldfield, Four Oaks
Hull, Holderness Road
Pontyclun, Talbot Green
London, Fleet Street
London, Fenchurch Street
London, Old Broad Street
London, Charing Cross
Sheffield, Darnall
Oxford, Summertown
Leeds, Chapel Allerton
Cardiff, Rumney
Torquay, Strand
Staines
June
Plymouth, Forder House
Belper, King Street
Colchester
London, Whitechapel
London, Marylebone
London, Streatham Hill
Falkirk High Street
Fleet, Fleet Road
Reading, Woodley
Oxford, Headington
Swansea, Gorseinon
Wigston, Leicester Road
Tavistock, Bedford Square
Bristol, Nailsea
Leeds, Cross Gates
Yate, North Walk
July
London, Kingsbury Road
Cleckheaton, Bradford Road
Bexleyheath, Broadway
London, South Woodford
Birmingham, Erdington
Goole, Wesley Square
Congleton, High Street
Formby, Chapel Lane
Gillingham, Kent
Dunstable, West Street
Chorley, Market Street
Pontypridd, Taff Street
Felixstowe, Hamilton Road
Godalming, High Street
Prestatyn, High Street
London, Southgate
Tewkesbury, High Street
Maldon, High Street
Hatfield
Huntingdon, High Street
August
Stockport, Bramhall
London, Russell Square
Richmond, Market Place
Loughton, High Road
Rustington, The Street
Exmouth, Chapel Street
Bournemouth, Winton
Liverpool, University
Cleveleys, Victoria Square
Clevedon, Triangle
Northallerton, High Street
Walton-on-Thames, High Street
London, High Holborn
September
Barry, Holton Road
Aldershot, Wellington Street
Eastcote, Field End Road
London, Edgware Road
Ramsgate, High Street
Manchester, Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Letchworth, Station Place
London, Hackney
Barnet, High Street
Deal, High Street
Cheshunt, Turners Hill
Swadlincote, High Street
Dorking, West Street
Welshpool, Broad Street
London, Surrey Quays
Worksop, Bridge Street
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