HSBC to close Leigh branch in July

February 26, 2020 by Emily Mertens

HSBC bank is set to shut its branch along Leigh Broadway this July.

The bank announced the closure of 27 branches this year and said that due to customers using different forms of banking, they're now less reliant on using a branch.

Stuart Haire, HSBC UK's Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, stated: "Retaining a sustainable branch network is extremely important to us and we need to ensure it is fit for the future.

"But, the way our customers bank with us has changed significantly over the last five to 10 years, and that change is something we cannot ignore.

"Almost every industry is affected by similar behavioural change and needs to work hard to address that - newspapers used to be delivered by paper boys and girls, or a paper would be collected from a shop, and now most people consume their news online.

"Photographs that were once processed in a shop have now been replaced with digital cameras and online delivery."

HSBC has revealed that the number of customers using a branch has falled by a third in the last five years, with nine in ten customers using the internet, an app or phone call to interact with the bank.

The bank has a remaining 594 branches which will recieve almost £34 million in investment, with 49 being refurbished.