HSBC to shut 82 bank branches as customers shift online

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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