Lloyds Banking Group to close 166 branches in 2024 and 10 in 2025 - Which? News (2024)

Lloyds Banking Group has revealed 53 new branch closures for the remainder of the year and early 2025.

The banking group, which includes Halifax and Bank of Scotland, will close 166 branches in 2024 and 10 next year.

The new closures include 21 Lloyds Bank sites, 22 Halifax sites and 10 Bank of Scotland and will take place between June this year and January 2025.

In May, it will also close its mobile banking fleet, which was set up as an alternative to high street branches, with vans visiting towns and cities and offering services including cashing in cheques, paying bills, sending money abroad and general banking inquiries.

Here, Which? reveals how many branches will close, where they are, and what's being done to protect cash access.

Which Lloyds Banking Group branches are closing in 2024?

Here are the locations of the 166 branches which will close in 2024.You can use the search bar to see whether your local branch is affected:

Which Lloyds Banking Group branches are closing in 2025?

Here are the locations of all 10 closing in 2025.

Why are Lloyds branches closing?

Lloyds Group said the use of the 53 branches had fallen by an average of 51% in the last five years and 19m customers were now using mobile banking.

A spokesman said: 'Most of our customers now choose our mobile app or online banking as the main way to manage their money. Alongside online options, customers can also bank with us over the phone, at the Post Office, in a Banking Hub or by speaking to a Community Banker.'

As a result of the latest closures, 28 Community Bankers will be introduced (more on those below).

Which? Money Magazine

Find the best deals, avoid scams and grow your savings and investments with our expert advice. £4.99 a month, cancel anytime

Sign up now

Why is Lloyds closing its mobile van banking service?

Back in January Lloyds announced it would be closing its mobile van banking service.

A spokesman told Which? each mobile branch helps 14 customers on average, with visits falling by 90% since 2018, and instead, it will be introducing 32 new community bankers. It said the vast majority of visits to mobile branches were to pay cash in and out, which can also be done at the Post Office.

A spokesman said: 'Customers have used our mobile branches much less over time and some locations now have as little as two customers using the service.

'We’ll be introducing more community bankers, alongside the other options customers already have for their banking including the Post Office, online, our mobile apps, phone banking, video services and web chat.'

As a replacement 32 community bankers will be introduced to provide targeted face-to-face banking support.

The Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland mobile branch service will close in May.

What are Lloyds community bankers?

Community bankers provide banking support in local communities where a branch is closing.

They’ll have a dedicated office space in a local venue for customers to chat in private, and appointments do not need to be made in advance.

You can view the list of current locations for community bankers on Lloyds’ website under the ‘Community Bankers’ section.

Which other banks are closing branches in 2024?

Lloyds isn't the only bank to announce closures this year.

NatWest Group (including Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank) has 32 scheduled to close and Barclays will close 90 branches this year, and has pencilled in six for 2025. Danske Bank will shut four sites this year.

To find out whether your local bank branch is closing, or has recently closed, our bank branch closure checker tool shows the branches shutting down in your local authority area.

What’s being done to protect access to cash?

Which? has been campaigned to protect access to cash.

Here are some of the cash solutions that have been announced or put in place since our campaign began.

New law to protect access to cash

Banks and building societies will have to plug gaps in local cash provision under new rules proposed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Legislation that came into force in June 2023 gave the watchdog new powers to ensure people could conveniently withdraw and deposit cash following the rapid rate of bank and ATM closures.

The FCA said its new rules will not prevent bank branches from closing but will help ‘manage the pace of change’ and mean that any location set to lose a bank or other cash access point (such as an ATM) must have alternative provisions in place before it shuts.

• Find out more: new rules to protect cash access and scam victims become law

Which? Money Podcast

Join us on our weekly audio show for the latest money news and personal finance hacks to help make you better off.

Listen now

Link review to commission new cash services

In December 2022, the Cash Action Group (CAG) announced that any community facing the closure of a core cash service, such as a bank branch or ATM, will trigger an independent review by Link.

Link will determine whether a new solution should be provided and will have the power to commission services, such as a shared banking hub or better Post Office services, to meet the cash needs of the community as a whole – not just the customers of one bank or building society.

• Find out more:six things you need to know about the new bill to protect cash access and scam victims

Post Office services

Since January 2020, customers of certain banks have been able to use Post Office branches to withdraw and deposit cash in their accounts and make balance queries. Most banks will also allow you to deposit cheques.

This service, described as a ‘lifeline’ by the Post Office, means that people can still access essential services, even if their local bank branch has shut.

The service will run until December 2025, after a new agreement was signed with 30 banks in February 2022.

The article was first published in May 2022, and has been updated several times since. The last update was on 14 March 2024