NatWest announces 55 more closures in major blow for high street banks
NatWest has announced 55 more closures, including 52 bank branches three mobile vans.
It comes on top of the 54 closures NatWest had already confirmed for this year. Major banks have been closing branches due to more people using online banking.
The latest data from group Which? shows NatWest Group – which includes Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank – has shut 1,455 branches since 2015.
This includes the closure of 48 branches in 2024, while almost 20 banks shut for good in 2023. If you need face-to-face support, you can use any bank within the NatWest group for everyday services.
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For example, NatWest customers can use RBS branches, and vice versa. You can also see if you can visit a “mobile branch” which is where a member of staff sets up a mobile service in a community location for a set number of days.
You can use this for services such as making deposits, withdrawing cash and paying bills. You can visit the Post Office to pay in and withdraw cash, check your balance, and deposit cheques.
A spokesperson from the bank said: “Over 80% of our active current account holders now use our digital services and over 97% of retail accounts with us are now opened online.
“Our customers appreciate the speed and convenience of digital banking for everyday transactions, and often, when it comes to making bigger, more complex decisions they value speaking to our skilled and experienced colleagues.
“Like any business, we strive to meet our customers’ changing needs and expectations and we’ve been responding to the industry wide shift towards digital services by investing to broaden what customers can do themselves and to offer them greater personalisation.
“While we are increasingly engaging our customers digitally, our branch network remains important to us. We are also significantly investing in refreshing our network.
“We expect to invest over £20m in our network across the UK in 2025 to improve customer service, enhance the look and feel of our branches, and reduce the environmental impact of our buildings, as well as continuing to invest in shared solutions like the Post Office and Banking Hubs.
“We will also provide temporary support for transitions to our new network in selected locations through our 12-week Community Pop-Ups.”
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