HSBC has announced plans to shut 82 UK branches this year after a shift towards telephone and internet banking.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
HSBC said the decision reflected “local market trends, customer behaviour and branch usage” and would see the total number of branches reduced to 511.<\/p>\n
It said the closures are part of plans to become a market-leading digital bank and an overhaul of how remaining branches will operate.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK’s head of network, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised the need for the changes that we are making.<\/p>\n
“It hasn’t pushed us in a different direction but reinforces the things that we were focusing on before and has crystallised our thinking.<\/p>\n
“This is a strategic direction that we need to take to have a branch network fit for the future.”<\/p>\n
The closures follow 164 announced by TSB<\/strong> adding to thousands that have disappeared from Britain’s high streets in recent years from across the sector.<\/p>\n A recent report by consumer group Which? found banks and building societies had closed, or scheduled to close, 3,770 branches since January 2015.<\/p>\n The latest HSBC closures will take place between 23 April and 24 September.<\/p>\n These are the affected sites and their expected closure dates:<\/p>\n April<\/strong><\/p>\n Edinburgh, Princes Street<\/p>\n May<\/strong><\/p>\n Brighton, Ditchling Road<\/p>\n Hull, Merit House<\/p>\n Wednesbury<\/p>\n Sutton Coldfield, Four Oaks<\/p>\n Hull, Holderness Road<\/p>\n Pontyclun, Talbot Green<\/p>\n London, Fleet Street<\/p>\n London, Fenchurch Street<\/p>\n London, Old Broad Street<\/p>\n London, Charing Cross<\/p>\n Sheffield, Darnall<\/p>\n Oxford, Summertown<\/p>\n Leeds, Chapel Allerton<\/p>\n Cardiff, Rumney<\/p>\n Torquay, Strand<\/p>\n Staines<\/p>\n June<\/strong><\/p>\n Plymouth, Forder House<\/p>\n Belper, King Street<\/p>\n Colchester<\/p>\n London, Whitechapel<\/p>\n London, Marylebone<\/p>\n London, Streatham Hill<\/p>\n Falkirk High Street<\/p>\n Fleet, Fleet Road<\/p>\n Reading, Woodley<\/p>\n Oxford, Headington<\/p>\n Swansea, Gorseinon<\/p>\n Wigston, Leicester Road<\/p>\n Tavistock, Bedford Square<\/p>\n Bristol, Nailsea<\/p>\n Leeds, Cross Gates<\/p>\n Yate, North Walk<\/p>\n July<\/strong><\/p>\n London, Kingsbury Road<\/p>\n Cleckheaton, Bradford Road<\/p>\n Bexleyheath, Broadway<\/p>\n London, South Woodford<\/p>\n Birmingham, Erdington<\/p>\n Goole, Wesley Square<\/p>\n Congleton, High Street<\/p>\n Formby, Chapel Lane<\/p>\n Gillingham, Kent<\/p>\n Dunstable, West Street<\/p>\n Chorley, Market Street<\/p>\n Pontypridd, Taff Street<\/p>\n Felixstowe, Hamilton Road<\/p>\n Godalming, High Street<\/p>\n Prestatyn, High Street<\/p>\n London, Southgate<\/p>\n Tewkesbury, High Street<\/p>\n Maldon, High Street<\/p>\n Hatfield<\/p>\n Huntingdon, High Street<\/p>\n