Santander to shut 140 UK bank branches

Santander is closing 140 branches in the UK in response to changing customer habits. The bank said it is reshaping its branch network to comprise a combination of larger branches offering “improved community facilities” to support local businesses and customers, and smaller branches using the “latest technology” to offer customers more convenient access to banking services. The decision will affect 1,270 staff. Santander said it expects to redeploy around a third of these. After the changes, Santander will continue trading at 614 branches. Current and business account holders will also be able to bank using any of the Post Office’s 11,000 branches in the UK. Meanwhile 100 Santander branches will be refurbished over the next two years through an investment of £55m. The refurbishments will include a “range of changes with a focus on personal service, convenience and community engagement”. Difficult decisions The number of transactions carried out via Santander branches has fallen by 23% over the past three years, while transactions via digital channels have grown by 99% over the same period. Susan Allen, Santander ‘s head of retail and business banking, said: “The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels. “As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity. “We continue to believe that branches have a vital role to play and we will be refurbishing 100 of our branches over the next two years. “We are confident that following these changes we will have the right branch network to serve our customers’ changing needs, and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future.”   To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@egi.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @estatesgazette