Up to 750 jobs are at risk at Santander bank under plans to close nearly a quarter of its high street branches.
The high street lender has announced plans to close 95 of the bank’s existing 444 UK branches.
Of the remaining branches, 36 will operate on reduced hours branches and 18 will be “counter-free”.
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Only 290 full-service Santanders will remain.
The continued move to online banking has been given as a reason for the closures. The bank said financial transactions completed in branches fell 61% since 2019 while the use of internet banking to open accounts and conduct banking rose.
“Closing a branch is always a very difficult decision and we spend a great deal of time assessing where and when we do this and how to minimise the impact it may have on our customers,” a spokesperson said.
With the closures, Santander said 93% of the UK population will continue to be within 10 miles of a Santander branch.
It pointed out its customers can conduct banking in 11,000 Post Office branches nationwide and 112 banking hubs.
Closing branches are all within one mile of the nearest Post Office, Santander said.
The 750 staff are at risk of redundancy after consultation with unions, it added.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the Advance union have been contacted for comment.
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