HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:HSBA) has said it will close 114 of its UK branches from April next year, just over a quarter of the total number, as fewer customers visit its physical outlets and instead continue to move to digital banking.
The bank said branch use by regulator customers has fallen by 65% in the past five years, with the decline accelerating following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Closing the branches will leave the FTSE 100-listed with 327 ongoing sites. Footfall in three-quarters of the branches marked for closure has dropped by more than 50%, it noted.
Digital banking now accounts for 97.5% of all transactions and usage of the HSBC mobile app has nearly tripled since 2017.
In a statement, Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK’s managing director of UK Distribution, said: “People are changing the way they bank and footfall in many branches is at an all-time low, with no signs of it returning.
“Banking remotely is becoming the norm for the vast majority of us. Not only can we do it anywhere at any time of day or night, many more things can be done at the customers’ convenience and don’t rely on a branch visit."
The bank said it has invested tens of millions of pounds in updating and improving its remaining branch network and will provide free tablet devices and one-to-one coaching for selected customers as part of its post-closure strategy.
“The decision to close a branch is never easy or taken lightly, especially if we are the last branch in an area, so we’ve invested heavily in our ‘post closure’ strategy, including providing free tablet devices to selected branch customers who do not already have a device to bank digitally, alongside one-to-one coaching to help them migrate to digital banking,” added Uhi.