Barclays made regular appearances on LINK, the ATM network’s list of branch closures in 2023, with the latest 20 kicking off the catalogue for 2024.
They include 16 in England, including in the Barnard Castle district to which former special adviser Dominic Cummings made his ill-advised visit during the pandemic, and four in Wales.
In total in 2023, Barclays announced 203 locations were to shutter, while in 2022, the banking giant confirmed it would close 132 branches.
At the end of 2022, it had a branch network of 481, falling to 414 by mid-2023.
As with previous branch closure confirmations, Barclays noted that the move was down to the shift towards digital banking – either online or via the app – with fewer people interacting in branch.
Digital customers have increased year-on-year to stand at 10.9 million, with nearly four billion app logins a year and over 90 per cent of transactions completed digitally.
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 continue banking 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 there are 31 banking hubs open, including in Acton, Brixham, Cambuslang, Carmoustie, Cottingham, Rochford and Troon.
