Executives from four of Britain’s biggest high street lenders were grilled by MPs about a dramatic decline in the number of physical bank sites
Bank bosses have refused to say when they will end a branch closure “bloodletting”.
Executives from four of Britain’s biggest high street lenders were grilled by MPs about a dramatic decline in the number of sites. Barclays’ branch numbers, for example, have collapsed from nearly 1,580 a decade ago to just 300 now.
Anne Marie Morris, a Tory member of the Commons Treasury Committee, said: “When will the bloodletting stop? When will we know we have got to the end of the cull?” Mike Regnier, chief executive of Santander UK, which has just 444 branches left, would only say it had no plans to close any more branches this year.
Vim Maru, head of Barclays UK, committed to keep branches earmarked for closure open until an alternative banking “hub” was found. He also claimed: “Our strategy is to increase local presence”, with 900 “touch points”.
However, those include Barclays’ staff being available on occasions in places such as libraries and garden centres. Banks argue branch closures are due to more people transacting online.
Yet it came as the bosses warned of the increasing threat from online fraud. Charlie Nunn, head of Lloyds Banking Group, said fraud now accounted for nearly half of all crime. “This harrowing for customers,” he said. Paul Thwaite, the now boss of NatWest, said 80% of fraud was initiated via social media.
