Barclays Bank have announced a branch closure in our Bubble this April

Barclays Bank have today made an announcement that they are closing down their #Formby branch in Sefton. This will undoubtedly have a devastating affect on the community especially since our announcement last week that the HSBC in Formby is closing down on Friday 9th July.

A spokesperson from Barclays Bank said: “This Barclays Formby branch is closing – but we're still here to help. Our Formby branch is closing on Friday 30th April 2021.”

Here are the main reasons why the Formby branch is closing:

• The number of counter transactions has gone down in the previous 24 months, and additionally 82% of the branch customers also use other ways to do their banking such as online and by telephone

• Customers using other ways to do their banking has increased by 15% since 2015

• In the past 12 months, 34% of this branch's customers have been using nearby branches

• We’ve identified that only 96 customers use this branch exclusively for their banking.

Over the past few years, bank and building society branches have been disappearing from our high streets at a frightening pace. Banks say that this has been driven by a rapid increase in online and mobile banking, and a rapid decline in the use of physical branches.

A spokesperson from Barclays Bank said: “Our branch network and the colleagues who work in them remain a vital part of what we offer our customers. Yet with customers visiting our branches less and less each year, we must constantly assess how and why our branches are used and make decisions based on that insight. There will be times when this means that we will make the difficult decision to close a branch.”

“With more customers choosing to bank in different ways, we are carefully reducing the number of under-used branches we have.”

The bank closures come even though it admits some of those premises being closed have seen rising customer numbers.

Barclays also admits 177 residents only bank in-branch and yet Access to Banking Standard rules state that banks must consider the impact of closures on residents.

Yet despite leaving many areas without a single branch, no banking firm has reversed a closure in three years. Previous research found Barclays had plans to shut, 540 branches since 2015, including 151 since January 2019.

The North West has been the second hardest hit place in the country, with 463 branches disappearing from our high street.