HSBC confirms branch in Eastwood will shut – amid dozens of closures nationwide

The bank said the number of customers visiting its branches has dropped by 65 per cent in five years, with almost 98 per cent of all transactions taking place online.

A HSBC spokesman said “people are changing the way they bank and footfall in many branches is at an all-time low, with no signs of it returning”.

He said the decline in customers opting to use in-person services – accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic – left some branches serving fewer than 250 people a week.

The company also confirmed it is engaging its “post-closure” strategy in areas where it is the last branch.

This includes providing free tablets to a number of customers, along with coaching to encourage people to bank digitally.

The Eastwood branch, on the corner of Nottingham Road and Albert Street, is scheduled to shut on August 29, 2023.

Resident Brian George described the closure as “yet another nail in the coffin for local services and people in Eastwood”.

He said: “All they are left with are a couple of TSB cash machines and a Tesco cash machine as you go out of the town towards Hill Top.

“Not so long ago now there was an extremely well-used NatWest branch whose building has been left to rot on High Street.

“RIP banking services and the face-to-face contact local branches offered.”

Other branches facing the axe include Long Eaton and Ripley.