NatWest announces plans to close 23 branches in England and Wales

The bank is expected to close its 21 branches in England and 2 in Wales in the first half of 2023, as more and more people prefer to use online banking solutions that are faster and more convenient. However, NatWest representatives cited by retailbankerinternational.com acknowledged that online banking is not for everyone and expressed their commitment to helping clients who face challenges in moving online by providing support and alternative banking methods. 

NatWest has expanded its capabilities in November 2022, when it launched three new APIs to support corporate, commercial, and institutional customers’ demand for real-time payments and automated reconciliation needs, including BACs payments.  

The launch added to the Indirect Access Payments suite of APIs (Application Programming Interface), an API suite that is reportedly widely used by NatWest Agency Banks and Indirect Payment Service Providers to process secure bank-grade and non-bank-grade domestic payments, worth billions in value, plus get real-time status information on those payments.

NatWest is not the only bank to close down its branches 

According to bbc.com, Lloyds and Halifax are planning to close 40 bank branches in an effort to cut costs as customers switch to online banking. In July 2022, Lloyds Banking Group announced that it would close 66 branches between October 2022 and January 2023. 

This recent announcement revealed that Halifax will close 18 sites while Lloyds will shut down 22 sites between April and June. All but one of the closures are in England, with Halifax closing its site in Bangor, Wales. The group also emphasised that there will be no job losses as a result of these closures. 

According to thenorthernecho.co.uk, Barclays announced that it will close 14 branches across England and Wales starting from late April 2023 to the beginning of May. Barclay card customers that have expressed their concern about these closure announcements were informed that they can still receive in-person support if they need it. 

Some of these solutions for in-person support include a support van and several pop-up banks where customers can get help and advice. Clients can also access some facilities at Post Office branches, including cash and cheque deposits as well as cash withdrawals.