UK-based retail lender TSB Bank has announced plans to shutter 70 branches in 2022 citing declining branch usage and increasing digital banking activity.
The lender stated that transactions at its branches have been falling since January 2019 with no prospect of returning to pre-pandemic levels.
TSB Bank said that over 90% of customer transactions are now carried out digitally and a video banking account is used for more than 90% of mortgage appointments.
The branches being shuttered carry out around a third (32%) fewer transactions than the TSB national average.
TSB chief customer officer Robin Bulloch said: “Closing branches is an incredibly difficult decision to take, but we have to respond to the changes in the way people bank and provide the right mix of services for all our customers now and into the future.
“These changes allow us to maintain an extensive branch presence across the country. They are accompanied by a significant investment programme to upgrade branches to better suit customer needs. And, where it takes longer to get to the nearest branch, we will introduce more ‘pop-up’ services in communities.”
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By GlobalDataTSB will open 10 further ‘pop-up’ branches and will have 220 branches operational.
Employees impacted by the change will be provided with the opportunity to switch to an alternative role, TSB added.
Since the start of the pandemic, multiple lenders such as HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Virgin Money and Co-operative Bank have shuttered their branches.
