The banking giant has made several branch closure announcements in 2023 already, with the latest cull seeing 16 stores leave the high street for good.
They include 13 in England, two in Northern Ireland and one in Wales.
In total in 2023, Barclays announced 185 locations were to shutter both this year and next. So far in 2023, 164 branches have closed, with a further 16 to disappear by year end.
Last year, the banking giant confirmed it would close 132 branches, leaving it with a network of 481 branches at the end of 2022.
All-in-all, it means around a third of its network is set to disappear for good.
As with previous branch closure confirmations, Barclays told us it’s down to the shift towards digital banking – either online or via the app – with fewer people interacting in branch.
A Barclays spokesperson, said: “As visits to branches continue to fall, we need to adapt to provide the best service for all our customers. Where there is no longer enough demand to support a branch, we maintain an in-person presence though our Barclays Local network, live in over 300 locations, based in libraries, town halls, mobile vans and our banking pods. We also support access to cash with our cashback without purchase service, 24-hour deposit-taking ATMs and by working alongside the Post Office and Cash Access UK.”
Alternative ways to bank with Barclays
As well as Barclays Local, customers can visit banking hubs which provide basic banking services including counter services run by the major banks and the Post Office. There are also dedicated rooms where customers can see community bankers from their own bank for more complicated matters that require specialist knowledge or privacy.
According to LINK, the ATM network, there are seven banking hubs open in Acton, Brixham, Cambuslang, Carmoustie, Cottingham, Rochford and Troon.
However, as branch closures ramp up, LINK recently recommended its 100th shared banking hub after analysing the impact of 847 bank branch closures, as well as receiving more than 600 requests from members of the public.
There are an estimated 39,000 free ATMs across the UK and 11,000 Post Offices where customers can access and carry out basic banking services.
