NatWest Group Continues Branch Closure Plan with Additional 36 Shutters
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NatWest Group recently announced that it intends to bring the shutters down on 36 more branches. With the new development, the company will have shut down 143 branches in total in 2023 alone. Not only that, but the company also announced that two more sites will close at some point in 2024.
Natwest has annoyed it will close a further 36 of its brancheshttps://t.co/DRWHjfX8yC
— Liverpool Echo (@LivEchonews) July 6, 2023
UK banks are shutting down outlets throughout the country
NatWest’s intentions to shut down more of its branches further added to an entire wave of closures that the UK’s major banks announced at the start of the year. Like others, NatWest has been running a phased program for branch shutdowns throughout 2023.
The idea was to do it gradually and hopefully soften the blow. Earlier this year, the company announced a shutdown of 21 branches in January. Only two months later, in March of this year, it unveiled plans to close another 40 outlets. These shutdowns came in addition to previously announced plans to get rid of 43 branches throughout the first half of the year After that, it added 15 more branches in May.
With the new announcement that 36 more branches will have to go before the end of the year, the company has already climbed to 143 closed or about-to-be-closed branches in 2023.
The bank has said in the past that it went through some dramatic changes in recent years. For most of its lifetime, physical outlets were necessary. However, as years went by, the demand for online and mobile services increased, and physical outlets became a thing of the past.
With digital banking taking over, the company no longer had a need for them, just like many other banks, not only in the UK, but around the world, in developed countries, where online banking skyrocketed due to its efficiency and speed.
The bank has gone through drastic changes as demand for online banking grew
Commenting on the new round of shutdowns, the company said closing a branch is a decision it takes very seriously. It noted that it is aware that this will affect people who are not as confident in new technologies that enable digital banking. The bank still offers digital alternatives, but not everyone is equally comfortable with this.
It is undoubtedly aware that not all its users are tech-savvy enough to participate in online banking, especially for older generations. However, this is why it intends to work hard to help its struggling customers learn how to use its online services and guide them through the changes as best as possible.
In the end, it hopes its efforts will make it possible to continue serving its customer base in years to come. The bank promises that the quality of its service will only go up, regardless of the form that those services must take in a changing world.
