8 August 2007
The rise of online banking is contributing to the rise in the number of bank branches closing nationwide, a study has revealed.
According to website Locallife.com, an increase in the number of banks closing their doors has led to a current total of 10,423 banks across the nation, significantly down on the 11,640 figure recorded five years ago.
The number of bank branches compared to every 10,000 people in 2002 fell from 2.13 per 10,000 to 1.88 per 10,000 this year, the research found.
And it is not just in rural villages were this trend is occurring, but also largely in cities and towns, as Tony Martin, chairman of Locallife.co.uk, explained. "We hear a lot about closure of banks and post offices in rural areas, but that's something of an urban myth.
"In fact, the axe has been wielded much more enthusiastically in metropolitan areas like London, the Midlands and north-west, where it is easier to rationalise.
"Overall banks have generally been quite good at keeping a banking presence in, or not too far from, smaller rural communities," he added.
London has witnessed the largest decline in the number of branches to population falling from 2.58 branches per 10,000 people in 2002 to 2.05 today.