Lloyds Bank to close one other 136 branches throughout UK | USAEMALL.com

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Lloyds Banking Group will close 136 branches across the UK as it seeks to adapt to customers’ shift to digital banking, the high-street lender announced on Wednesday.

The retail bank said it would close 61 Lloyds branches along with 61 Halifax and 14 Bank of Scotland sites between May this year and March next year.

Staff working in the branches would be offered a role at another branch or in a different part of the business, the bank said.

“Over 20mn customers are using our apps for on-demand access to their money and customers have more choice and flexibility than ever for their day-to-day banking,” said the bank.

Banks have in recent years accelerated their retreat from the high street in a bid to cut costs, with consumer group Which? estimating that UK lenders have closed more than 6,000 branches in the past decade.

Lloyds’ move comes after the UK’s largest high-street bank told staff earlier this month that its Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland customers would be able to use any of its branches across the three brands, fuelling speculation that it was gearing up to close branches.

The bank had already planned to shut 55 branches between January and September this year, according to trade union Accord. The fresh round of closures will reduce its total number of branches to 757.

Lloyds, which has about 60,000 employees, also said earlier this month that it would cut 500 jobs and close two offices in Liverpool and Dunfermline.

The bank is entering the final stages of a £4bn investment plan led by chief executive Charlie Nunn, which is aimed at increasing revenue from sources that are not reliant on interest rates. The strategy also involves digitising the bank’s operations to cut costs and improve returns.

One person close to the bank said the decision to close the branches had been driven by changes in customer behaviour. Transactions in the 136 branches it planned to close were down 48 per cent over the past five years, the person added.

However, consumer groups have warned that the exit of bank branches from local communities has strained access to cash and financial services. More than seven in 10 UK adults use cash at least once a fortnight, according to ATM network provider LINK.

The Labour government has vowed to increase the rollout of so-called banking hubs run jointly by banks, Cash Access UK and the Post Office in areas where lenders have left. It has set a target of 350 hubs over the course of the current parliament.