Barclays has made a commitment to put a stop to announcing new bank branch closures for the years 2025 and 2026, as confirmed by CS Venkatakrishnan, the bank’s chief, at last Wednesday’s annual general meeting.
He declared: “We don’t have any plans to announce further bank branch closures in 2025 or 2026.”
However, the possibility of future closures beyond 2026 remains open, with Chairman Nigel Higgins commenting: “We want to see how the current branch strategy plays out.”
According to Which?, Barclays has closed 1,236 branches in the past decade, including 14 scheduled for closure in 2025, reports the Mirror.
For those Barclays customers worried about losing their local branch, the bank provides alternative services such as “mobile branch” operations in select areas.
Barclays also operates 200 pop-up banking points located in community centres, libraries, and business hubs, although these do not offer cash handling or counter services.
Customers needing basic transactions can turn to their local Post Office for depositing cash and cheques, and making withdrawals. This news comes on the heels of Barclays reducing the interest rate on its Rainy Day Saver account from 4.87% to 4.61%.
This marks the second time in four months that Barclays has reduced its savings rates; previously, it offered a rate of 5.12% on its Rainy Day Saver, which was cut in February.
Barclays is now compensating customers affected by a significant outage earlier this year. Thousands were left unable to process payments at the end of January due to a glitch that lasted several days.
Barclays had confirmed that if you suffered financial loss due to the glitch, it would compensate you – for example, if you couldn’t pay a bill and faced late payment charges. A spokesperson from Barclays said the bank was using its own records to identify potentially impacted customers, prioritising those considered vulnerable.
The bank may reach out to you for more information. Customers can also file a complaint directly with Barclays. The contact number for UK residents is 0800 282 390, or +44 (0)207 116 7488 for those calling from abroad.
