Santander is understood to be planning to cut its opening hours in half across dozens of branches in a blow to the bank’s customers.
The high street financial institution will reduce working hours at 36 of its bank branches as part of a wider restructuring plan, The Sun is reporting.
This comes following the announcement of 95 bank branch closures at Santander and the conversion of 18 sites to “counter-free” service desks.
As it stands, the majority of these branches are open Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 3pm, with many also open Saturday mornings from 9.30am to 12.30pm.
Santander is planning to cut opening hours across multiple bank branches
GETTY
However, these locations will be open only three days a week. Out of the impacted branches, 21 sites will adopt a Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday timetable.
Among the bank branch closures that are understood be affected include sites in Bicester, Braintree, Durham, and Stevenage.
With this latest overhaul to Santander’s business model, these branches will be open only three days a week from June 30; as opposed to six.
On top of this, an extra 14 branches will move to a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday timetable, opening from 9.30am to 3pm.
Out of these branches, it is understood that the Santander sites in Banbury, Great Yarmouth, Newark, and Washington will be affected.
Finally, the bank’s branch in Caerphilly will see its hours slashed further to only being open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with opening hours from 9.30am to 3pm.
On these changes, a Santander spokesperson said: “”As customer behaviour changes, we are ensuring that our branches remain fit for the future.
“Our new combination of full-service branches, alongside Work Cafés, counter-free branches and reduced hours branches, aims to provide the right balance between digital banking and face-to-face money management and guidance.
“As a business, we must move with customers and balance our investment across all the places where we interact with customers, to deliver the very best for them now and in the future.”
“The bank, which serves over 14million UK customers, announced earlier this month that it plans to close 95 branches across the UK.”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
After its most recent closure announcement, Santander will have only 349 branches operating on Britain’s high streets.
Here is a full list of the Santander branches earmarked for closure:
June Closures
- June 14 – Colne
- June 16 – Clacton, Croydon, Gateshead Metro, Launceston, Peterhead
- June 17 – Arbroath, Kilburn, Louth, Torquay
- June 18 – Kidderminster
- June 23 – Blackwood, Dungannon, Eltham, Glasgow MX
- June 24 – Aberdare, Glasgow LDHQ, Greenford, Magherafelt
- June 25 – Brecon
- June 30 – Fleet, Musselburgh, Portadown, Swadlincote
July Closures
- July 1 – Armagh, Borehamwood, Market Harborough
- July 2 – Malvern
- July 5 – Blyth, Canvey Island
- July 7 – Caernarfon, Camborne, Cumbernauld, Ruislip, Tenterden
- July 8 – Didsbury, Herne Bay, St Austell, Tottenham
- July 11 – Brixton, Formby, Sidcup
- July 14 – Bognor Regis, Holloway, Honiton, Plympton
- July 15 – Exmouth, Hackney, Rawtenstall, Seaford
- July 16 – Felixstowe
- July 21 – Falmouth, Saltcoats
- July 22 – Kirkby
- July 23 – Crowborough, Shaftesbury, Strabane
- July 24 – Colwyn Bay, Hawick
- July 28 – New Milton, Pudsey
- July 29 – Farnham, Hertford
- July 30 – Ross-On-Wye, St Neots
- July 31 – Stokesley
August Closures
- August 5 – Blyth, Canvey Island, Rustington
- August 6 – Downpatrick, Finchley, Whitley Bay
- August 11 – Edgware Road
- August 12 – Holywell
- August 13 – Holywell, Willerby
- August 14 – Plympton
Closures with Dates to Be Announced
Counter-Free Branches (Effective Dates)
- June 16 – Abingdon, Accrington, Stirling
- June 23 – Eastleigh, Edgware, Neath
- June 30 – Bromsgrove, Northwich, Sittingbourne, Streatham
- July 7 – Bracknell
- July 14 – Hartlepool, Nuneaton
- August 4 – Gravesend, Liverpool AR
