TSB to close 70 branches across UK as digital-first banking becomes norm

UK banking giant TSB has announced it will close 70 branches across the country in 2022, as in-person banking continues to decline.

TSB has seen a significant decrease in branch use

The rise of digital-first banking is behind the closures, the bank says, and it intends to mitigate some of the loss by opening 10 pop-up branches.

The bank says the branches due to close carry out around a third fewer transactions than the TSB national average.

TSB has seen a significant decrease in branch use, with the average number of transactions per branch falling since January 2019. The firm says there is “no prospect of branch transactions returning to pre-Covid levels”.

It adds more than 90% of customer transactions are now carried out digitally and video banking accounts for more than 90% of mortgage appointments.

Despite the move, TSB will continue to have the seventh largest branch network in the UK with over 200 branches, and claims more than 90% of customers will still be able to reach a branch in 20 minutes or less.

TSB’s chief customer officer Robin Bulloch says: “Closing branches is an incredibly difficult decision to take, but we have to respond to the changes in the way people bank and provide the right mix of services for all our customers now and into the future.”

Bulloch adds that the changes are accompanied by a significant investment programme to upgrade branches to better suit contemporary customer needs.