HSBC say it will close 114 more branches in 2023
HSBC has announced it will close a further 114 high street branches next year due to falling customer numbers. HSBC along with other well known banks have closed thousands of their branches in the past few years as customers transition online to do their everyday banking.
HSBC said customers in three quarters of the branches due to close have over halved in the past five years, a trend accelerated by the pandemic.
It’s left many communities, especially rural ones, without access to bank branches or ATM’s. The elderly and those without access to the internet have been the worst affected by the closures.
In response to further HSBC branch closures, founder and CEO of My Community Finance, Tobias Gruber, said:
"I'm not surprised HSBC have announced they're set to close yet more branches as customers transition to online banking in their droves, but I hope the bank will plough the money saved into improving their digital and telephone banking offerings for their customers.
"It's unacceptable for bank customers to wait up to 30 minutes to speak to someone when it's their only choice because their local branch has vanished. There are no excuses to keep customers on hold, considering the vast amount of money banks generally save from closing their high street branches.
"Post offices are one alternative for basic transactions like paying in cheques and cash, but this move by HSBC will undoubtedly leave even more rural customers that don't wish and unable to use the internet to do their banking frustrated, stuck and unable to access their money”.
The branches due to close in 2023 are:
April: Abergavenny, Alton, Bexhill on Sea, Blandford Forum, Bristol Downend, Cromer, Leominster, Market Bosworth, Shaftesbury, St Austell, St Ives
May: Arnold, Bideford, Brecon, Bridport, Brighouse, Bristol Filton, Coleraine, Didcot, Dover, Dundee, Fakenham, Gainsborough, Halesowen, Hove, Launceston, Leicester 11 Hinckley Road, Liskeard, Market Harborough, Minehead, Stamford, Stourport on Severn, Stroud, Sudbury, Waltham Cross, Whitby, Whitley Bay, Wilmslow
June: Beccles, Bicester, Chepstow, Frome, Hertford, Honiton, Ilkley, Knutsford, Lewes, New Milton, Oakham, Penarth, Pocklington, Pontypool, Portadown, Ross on Wye, Skipton, Sleaford, South Shields, St Neots, Stirling, Twickenham, Wadebridge, Wells
July: Blackwood, Bognor Regis, Bromborough, Christchurch, Coalville, Droitwich, Gosforth, Harpenden, Horsforth, Kingswinford, Leatherhead, Long Eaton, Marlow, Norwich Mile Cross, Palmers Green, Port Talbot, Portishead, Ripley, Seaford, Southampton Park Gate, Tonbridge, Wetherby
August: Ashton under Lyne, Bethnal Green, Bristol Westbury on Trym, Cardiff Rhyd y Penau, Chippenham, Cirencester, Colwyn Bay, Denbigh, Dorchester, Eastwood, Henley on Thames, Hornchurch, Kenilworth, Leighton Buzzard, London 122 Finchley Road, Morley, North Finchley, Ormskirk, Putney, Reigate, Ryde, Windsor, Wymondham
Date to be confirmed: Cowbridge, Epworth, Holsworthy, Hythe, Oxted, Settle, Tenby
About Tobias Gruber
Tobias Gruber is the founder and CEO of My Community Finance. For the past 30 years, he's been a prominent leader in investment banking and asset management for some of the sector's most renowned banks, including Credit Suisse, SwissBank, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.
Fast forward to 2018, Tobias launched My Community Finance to provide a platform for the financially excluded, helping people to get back on their feet with ethical and socially responsible lending. Within 36 months, My Community Finance has become accountable for 25% of borrowing within the credit union sector.
Tobias has experienced first-hand how certain areas of the finance world are ripe for change and is a passionate advocate for using fintech to help people and solve society's economic problems.
About My Community Finance
My Community Finance is on a mission to transform how its customers manage their money by giving them access to ethical alternatives through two of the U.K.'s biggest credit unions: My Community Bank and Castle Community Bank.
Credit unions give a lifeline to customers who struggle to access mainstream credit by introducing them to financial communities that don't prioritise profits and whose unique regulatory structure means they can offer fairer rates.
Based in London and launched in 2018, My Community Finance is fully authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a trading name of Amplifi Capital (U.K.) Limited, which has offered ethical and responsible financial products to near-prime consumers since 2015.
