The full list of 82 HSBC branches to close has been released.
Sites will start shutting their doors permanently from April 23, starting with Edinburgh’s Princes Street branch, with approximately three closing each week until the end of September.
HSBC operates from two locations in Tayside – Dundee’s Murraygate and Perth High Street.
Neither branch is on the list for closure.
Staff to be redeployed
HSBC said the Covid-19 pandemic has seen a greater shift to online banking although insisted the closures were not entirely related to the lockdowns and restrictions introduced.
Staff in branches facing closure are also expected to be redeployed to other branches and sites within 15 miles of their homes, the bank said.
HSBC said the closures are part of plans to become a market-leading digital bank and an overhaul of how remaining branches will operate.
Of the 82 sites closing, 81 are within a mile of a Post Office, two thirds are within five miles of another HSBC branch and nine in 10 are within 10 miles, the bank added.
Bosses said the changes will see four distinct branch formats that “best suit customer needs, based on detailed analysis of customer behaviour”.
These include full service branches, cash service branches for customers who need greater access to cash, counterless branches with self-services only and pop up branches.
Decisions ‘not taken lightly’
Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK’s head of network, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has emphasised the need for the changes that we are making.
“It hasn’t pushed us in a different direction but reinforces the things that we were focusing on before and has crystallised our thinking.
“This is a strategic direction that we need to take to have a branch network fit for the future.
“Making sure we have a sustainable branch network is essential to us, and decisions to close branches are not taken lightly.
“By ensuring we have the most suitable branch format in each specific local market that we serve, we will ensure that we are in good shape to meet the challenges ahead.”
She added that stripping out any impact of the pandemic, the number of customers using branches has fallen by a third in the last five years.
Nine in ten of all customer contact the bank over the phone, internet or smartphone and staff talk with more than 100,000 customers a week on social media.
Similar moves were announced in the past 12 months by rivals and a recent report by consumer group Which? found banks and building societies closed, or scheduled to close, 3,770 branches since January 2015.
Full list of branches to close
April
Edinburgh, Princes Street
May
Brighton, Ditchling Road
Hull, Merit House
Wednesbury
Sutton Coldfield, Four Oaks
Hull, Holderness Road
Pontyclun, Talbot Green
London, Fleet Street
London, Fenchurch Street
London, Old Broad Street
London, Charing Cross
Sheffield, Darnall
Oxford, Summertown
Leeds, Chapel Allerton
Cardiff, Rumney
Torquay, Strand
Staines
June
Plymouth, Forder House
Belper, King Street
Colchester
London, Whitechapel
London, Marylebone
London, Streatham Hill
Falkirk High Street
Fleet, Fleet Road
Reading, Woodley
Oxford, Headington
Swansea, Gorseinon
Wigston, Leicester Road
Tavistock, Bedford Square
Bristol, Nailsea
Leeds, Cross Gates
Yate, North Walk
July
London, Kingsbury Road
Cleckheaton, Bradford Road
Bexleyheath, Broadway
London, South Woodford
Birmingham, Erdington
Goole, Wesley Square
Congleton, High Street
Formby, Chapel Lane
Gillingham, Kent
Dunstable, West Street
Chorley, Market Street
Pontypridd, Taff Street
Felixstowe, Hamilton Road
Godalming, High Street
Prestatyn, High Street
London, Southgate
Tewkesbury, High Street
Maldon, High Street
Hatfield
Huntingdon, High Street
August
Stockport, Bramhall
London, Russell Square
Richmond, Market Place
Loughton, High Road
Rustington, The Street
Exmouth, Chapel Street
Bournemouth, Winton
Liverpool, University
Cleveleys, Victoria Square
Clevedon, Triangle
Northallerton, High Street
Walton-on-Thames, High Street
London, High Holborn
September
Barry, Holton Road
Aldershot, Wellington Street
Eastcote, Field End Road
London, Edgware Road
Ramsgate, High Street
Manchester, Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Letchworth, Station Place
London, Hackney
Barnet, High Street
Deal, High Street
Cheshunt, Turners Hill
Swadlincote, High Street
Dorking, West Street
Welshpool, Broad Street
London, Surrey Quays
Worksop, Bridge Street
