Lloyds Banking Group announces shutdowns of 45 more branches in 2024

As digital banking continues to grow in the UK, major banks are giving up on running physical branches. Lloyds Banking Group, one of the leading banks in the country, already announced further shutdowns in 2024, currently planning to close 45 more branches in the following year.

A lack of demand for the banking branches

Lloyds stated openly that the reason behind the closures is nothing more than migration to digital channels. In fact, Lloyds, just like many other banks, has actually noticed an increase in the number of users, as well as funds that go through their businesses.

However, digital banking ensures that there is no longer a need for banks to maintain a dense physical presence, which is why the group intends to close 22 Halifax sites, 19 Lloyds branches, as well as four Bank of Scotland sites in the following months.

It is worth noting that the new 45 branches that Lloyds intends to shut down in 2024 are not all — they come in addition to the existing 75 branches whose 2024 shutdown was announced earlier this year. In other words, Lloyds will close a total of 120 branches next year — so far.

The bank’s spokesperson commented on the decision, stating that the way customers choose to bank with Lloyds has changed significantly over the last several years. As a result, Lloyds has adapted its offering to fit the customers’ needs. In other words, the bank has been reactive to the customers’ needs and wants, so from its own point of view, the shutdowns are no different.

Doubling the focus on online, mobile, and phone services

Similarly to how it introduced new features and options to the customers’ everyday needs, Lloyds also opts to remove them if those needs have changed. With no more need for physical branches, the bank will simply eliminate them and double its efforts on making digital banking even better.

That includes a focus on its mobile app, online services, and over-the-phone services. The bank added that it is also possible for customers to bank with Lloyds through the Post Office, in a Banking Hub, or by speaking to a Community Bnker.

And, as mentioned, Lloyds is hardly the only bank in the UK to go through shutdowns. Branch closures were seen across the banking industry, which includes other major financial institutions, such as NatWest and Barclays. Meanwhile, online, or challenger banks, as they are also known, are thriving — not only in the UK but around the world.

In the UK alone, over 600 branches have disappeared from the high street in 2023, and the trend is likely to continue in years to come.