HSBC to close a quarter of British branches as fewer customers use physical locations and go digital

Name: HSBC’s break-up dilemma: why bank’s largest shareholder is pushing for change
Uploaded: 2022-11-30T14:30:13.000Z
Duration: 5 min 25 s
Description: HSBC’s break-up dilemma: why bank’s largest shareholder is pushing for change

London-based lender to close 114 branches in its second-biggest market

Footfall has fallen by half in 74 per cent of the branches set to close, HSBC says

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Overall use of HSBC’s British branch network has fallen by 65 per cent over the past five years, the lender said. Photo: Yik Yeung -man

Chad Brayin London

Published: 10:30pm, 30 Nov 2022Updated: 11:41pm, 30 Nov 2022

HSBC plans to close about a quarter of its branches in Britain, its second-biggest market, as fewer of its customers use physical locations to carry out their daily banking business, the lender said on Wednesday.

The London-based lender said it plans to close 114 branches beginning in April 2023, saying footfall had fallen by at least half in 74 per cent of the branches set to close. Overall use of its British branch network had fallen by 65 per cent over the past five years, HSBC said.

The decline in branch use further accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, with some locations now serving fewer than 250 customers a week, the bank 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,” Jackie Uhi, HSBC’s managing director of UK distribution, said in a statement. “Banking remotely is becoming the norm for the vast majority of us. Not only can we do it anywhere at any time of day or night, many more things can be done at the customers’ convenience and don’t rely on a branch visit.”

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HSBC’s break-up dilemma: why bank’s largest shareholder is pushing for change

The bank, the biggest of Hong Kong’s three currency-issuing lenders, said that more than nine in 10 transactions are completed digitally in Britain and the use of its mobile application has nearly tripled since 2017.

Ninety-nine per cent of its personal loans and 98 per cent of its credit card are applied for digitally in Britain, the lender said.

HSBC to close a quarter of British branches as fewer customers use physical locations and go digital

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}London-based lender to close 114 branches in its second-biggest market Footfall has fallen by half in 74 per cent of the branches set to close, HSBC says

London-based lender to close 114 branches in its second-biggest market

Footfall has fallen by half in 74 per cent of the branches set to close, HSBC says