Bank to close 140 high street branches
Santander has announced plans to reshape its branch network and close 140 branches in response to changes in how customers are choosing to carry out their banking. The number of transactions carried out via Santander branches has fallen by 23% over the past three years, while transactions via digital channels have grown by 99% over the same period.
Santander’s future branch network will be made up of a combination of larger branches offering improved community facilities to support local businesses and customers, and smaller branches using the latest technology to offer customers more convenient access to banking services.
Santander will retain a nationwide network of 614 branches following the proposed changes and 100 of these will be refurbished over the next two years.
Susan Allen, head of retail and business banking, said: “We continue to believe that branches have a vital role to play and we will be refurbishing 100 of our branches over the next two years. We are confident that following these changes we will have the right branch network to serve our customers’ changing needs, and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future.”
