HSBC to close its Inverness branch later this year

HSBC has announced its Inverness branch is to close in September.

It’s one of 69 banks to shut as customers continue to switch to online banking.

This means the nearest branch for Inverness customers will be in Aberdeen.

The move, which could hit around 400 workers across the branches, is the latest in a flurry of closure announcements by the UK’s biggest banks.

In January last year, the bank announced 82 previous closures.

Inverness, which closes on September 27, is one of two Scottish branches affected.

The Perth bank will also close on July 26.

Declining footfall to blame

HSBC said that less than 50% of its customers now regularly use its branch network, with footfall dropping sharply over the past five years.

A spokesman for the bank added that it hopes to redeploy all 400 staff to new roles within 15 miles of their homes.

Head of HSBC UK’s branch network Jackie Uhi said: “The way people bank is changing – something the pandemic has accelerated.

“Our branches continue to support people with their more complex banking needs, but the way we can do this has also evolved, with the addition of banking hubs, community pop ups and continued use of the Post Office network.

“Rather than a one-size-fits-all branch approach, it’s an approach built around the way different customers are choosing to bank in different areas.

“We know that the majority of our customers have a preference to do much of their day-to-day banking online or via mobile, so we’re removing locations where we have another branch nearby, and where there is a significant reduction in customers using face-to-face branch servicing.

“This will enable us to invest in locations where our customers are continuing to utilise the branch network, including updating technology and refurbishing branches.”

Part of transformation programme

It said the move was part of a wider “transformation programme” which will see it launch community pop-ups, new self-service machines and digital support for customers.

The group will also refurbish branches in key locations, which it said will enable the bank to better support customers’ online banking needs.

Nearly half of banks’ branches have been lost since 2015 – or are scheduled for closure, according to a recent report by Which?.

The research firm also found there had been 736 bank branch closures in 2021 at the time it carried out that study, with another 221 planned to go in 2022.