HSBC is shutting down 69 branches across the United Kingdom, citing a decline in revenue. The closures could affect thousands of people who bank at HSBC’s UK branches. They include three in London, five outside Manchester and two each near Glasgow and Birmingham.
HSBC plans to close 69 more locations, putting 400 front-line jobs at risk. According to the UK bank, the move to mobile and internet banking has resulted in a 50% decline in footfall since 2017, with the coronavirus epidemic hastening the trend.
With these closures, the bank will have just 441 branches, with only 96 of those offering a complete range of financial services.
Jackie Uhi, the head of HSBC UK’s branch network, said:
“People’s banking habits are shifting, and the epidemic has hastened this trend. Our branches continue to help customers with their more complicated banking requirements, but the method we do so has changed, thanks to the advent of banking hubs, community pop-ups, and the continuous use of the Post Office network. It’s a model structured on how various clients choose to bank in different places, rather than a one-size-fits-all branch approach.”
She claims that only around half of the bank’s customers currently use the branch to handle most or all of their financial requirements. According to Uhi,
“We know that the majority of our customers prefer to conduct most of their day-to-day banking online or on their phones, so we’re closing sites when we have another branch nearby and where consumers use face-to-face branch services in considerable numbers.”
This will allow us to invest in regions where our clients continue to use the branch network, such as technology upgrades and branch refurbishment.”
The bank stressed that, where feasible, it seeks to relocate employees impacted by the recent closures to other open positions.
