The shutters are coming down on banks all over the North East, with 17 branches on the closure list so far this year.
Whitley Bay, in North Tyneside, will have lost three banks by the end of the summer, with the town's Halifax branch closing on June 21, followed by NatWest on July 20. HSBC closed its doors for the last time on May 2. And rural communities in Stanhope and Seahouses are among the neighbourhoods hit by the 228 UK high street bank branches due to close by the end of this year.
Research by Which? last year suggested banks and building societies have closed, or have scheduled to close, a total of 5,579 branches since January 2015. This works out at around 54 branches each month. The banking industry has said that fewer people are using their branches and the pandemic accelerated changes, with many customers learning for the first time how to bank from home. However, critics say vulnerable people who are less confident on the internet will be left without access to services.
