UK lenders agree to set up 'banking hubs' after mass closures

LONDON - UK banks have agreed to set up 350 "banking hubs" to address the impact of thousands of closures, the finance ministry said, as one lender announced it was closing 55 more branches.

The shift to online banking has led to mass closings of UK bank branches with the elderly, people with disabilities and small businesses hardest hit, especially in rural areas.

City Minister Tulip Siddiq secured the industry's agreement for the hubs rollout over the next five years at a meeting with representatives of all the major high-street banks, the ministry said.

"Banking hubs are a lifeline for local communities that have lost their final bank branch," Siddiq said.

"I'm confident that the banks will deliver on the commitment made today, as well as take a more active approach to meeting the needs of local communities," she added.

The announcement came as Lloyds Banking Group said it was closing 55 more branches including 19 branches of Lloyds bank, 32 of Halifax bank and four of Bank of Scotland.

The closures would take place between January and September next year, a spokesperson told AFP in a statement.

Between 1986 and 2023, 8,944 bank branches closed their doors across the UK, taking the total number of branches in the country down from 14,689 to 5,745, according to official figures.

The closures -- by banks including the big four of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest -- have alarmed consumer groups, who argue that they hit those who predominantly still use cash, particularly the elderly.

Under the agreement, 230 hubs will be in place by the end of 2025 with a further 120 rolled out by mid-2029 at the latest.

The hubs, a manifesto commitment by new Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer ahead of the July election that brought him to power, will be small facilities serving all banks that provide services such as paying in cheques, depositing cash or face-to-face conversations with a "community banker".

A commitment to provide printers in the hubs so customers can print off statements, however, has not yet been agreed by the banks.

The ministry said Siddiq was given a commitment at the meeting that the industry delivery body, Cash Access UK, would look at the "feasibility of having printers in its hubs".