Every bank Cornwall has lost in the last three years as more set to vanish

Twenty-five banks have closed in Cornwall in the last three years with more set to vanish from the high street in 2025. Since an initiative designed to protect access to cash on the high street launched in 2022, more than 1,600 banks have closed in the UK, including more than 100 already scheduled to shut this year.

In Cornwall alone, 25 banks closed before New Year’s Day 2025. Another three are due to close this year, with the Lloyds bank in Liskeard due to shut in February, the Lloyds in Chesterton Place, Newquay in March, and the Lloyds in Wadebridge in July.

The TSB in Bell Vue, Bude, is also earmarked for closure, but a date has yet to be determined.

The closures have been seen all across Cornwall, with four banks lost in Falmouth and three each in Wadebridge and Liskeard. It comes as the pace of bank closures shows no sign of slowing down.

Across the UK, 35 banks have either closed or will close by the end of January. So far in 2025, around 120 branches of major banks have either closed already or announced their intention to close at a fixed date this year. Another 18 are earmarked for closure, but no end date has been set.

It follows on from the more than 400 banks that closed last year, more than 600 in 2023, and more than 100 in 2022. In total 1,649 bank branches have shut or announced their intention to close since February 2022, when a voluntary agreement saw the major banking groups commit to assessing the impact of every closure. That’s an average of around 44 closures per month or 10 per week.

The LINK initiative to assess the impact of closures - which was agreed by all the major banks including Barclays, HSBC, Natwest, Lloyds, and Halifax - was set up to ensure vulnerable customers and small businesses were not left behind in the switch to cashless payments and virtual banking.

When closures leave communities without any local bank, banking hubs or free ATMs are set up to fill the gap. The wave of bank closures has affected every part of the UK, with more than 1,300 lost or about to close in England alone, plus 149 in Scotland, 98 in Wales, 45 in Northern Ireland, and one in the Isle of Wight.

Where have banks closed near you?

Warning elderly 'at risk of digital exclusion'

Age UK says its research shows the “disappearance of face-to-face banking” risks cutting millions of elderly people out of an essential service, which could make it “difficult if not impossible for them to manage their money and maintain their independence”.

Charity director Caroline Abrahams said: “The continuing avalanche of bank branch closures means that there are considerably fewer opportunities for face-to-face banking than there were even just a couple of years ago. Older people living in rural and semi-rural areas are likely to be the hardest hit, but those in towns and cities are not immune.

"Our research found that more than four million older people with a bank account in Britain are not managing their money online and so are at high risk of digital exclusion.

"Age UK is calling for the protection of physical banking services for those who do not, or cannot bank online, and for the accelerated roll-out of shared banking hubs in areas where bank branches are fast withering away.

"We applaud the banks for coming together to set up shared hubs, but it's important that alternative services are set up speedily, especially in those areas with the greatest need.”

LINK deputy CET Adrian Roberts said: “As more people choose to use digital payments or bank online, we will see fewer bank branches on the high street. However, around five million people still rely on cash and almost a quarter of adults feel digitally excluded, so it is vital that access to cash continues to be available even after local bank branches have closed.

"LINK is committed to maintaining access to cash across the UK for as long as it is needed through national networks of banking hubs, post offices and free-to-use ATMs. If any consumer is concerned about access to cash, they can contact us directly via our website."

Cat Farrow, chief strategy and customer officer for Cash Access UK, added: "We're making great progress in opening more banking hub and deposit services across the UK. In December last year, we opened the 100th hub in Darwen, Lancashire and we expect many more to open this year.

"The feedback to date has been brilliant - banking hubs allow customers of all banks to come into one central location on the high street to complete their basic banking services.”

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