Santander to shut 44 branches with 291 jobs at risk

(Sharecast News) - Santander UK announced the closure of 44 branches on Thursday and the potential loss of 291 jobs. The Spanish-owned bank said it was continuing to "transform its branch network in response to changing customer behaviour".

It pointed to a rapid increase in customers choosing to bank online, with 96% of all transactions now being completed in digital channels.

Since 2019, there has been a 64% rise in digital transactions, while financial transactions in branches have fallen 66%. Over the last year alone, the volume of financial transactions taking place in branch has declined 13%, it said.

Closing branches will be replaced by community bankers, operating either from a Santander Local or, where required, a banking bub, to provide ongoing face-to-face support for communities, it said.

Once the changes are implemented, the Santander branch network will consist of 305 branches including 244 full-service branches, 19 counter-free branches, 36 reduced-hour branches, and six Work Cafés, alongside 111 Santander Locals.

A spokesperson for Santander UK, said: "In response to a continuing and sizeable shift towards customers using digital banking, we are making changes to our branches to better support our customers.

"We will continue to invest in both our branch network - comprising of full-service branches, counter-free branches, reduced-hour branches, Santander Locals, and our increasingly popular Work Cafés - as well as our digital banking services, so we can be there to support our customers however they choose to bank with us."