Don’t worry—Halifax is promising to keep cash machines nearby for the foreseeable future. So you can still grab a £20 note for the car boot sale. They’re also rolling out more “mobile banking vans” to rural areas—like an ice cream truck, but for cheque deposits and grumpy questions.
Halifax to close dozens of bank branches this year - full list of
If you’re one of those people who loves talking to a real human teller, you might feel a bit sad. I get it. Nothing beats the smell of bank paperwork and the awkward silence while they count your coins. But Halifax says they’ll still have staff in shared branches or community spaces—so you can still get a real-life high-five when you finally pay off your overdraft.
And if you need help with tech, Halifax is offering free digital workshops. That’s code for: “We’ll show you how to tap your phone so you stop crying about the branch closure.”
Is This the End of Banking as We Know It?
Not quite. It’s more like the end of banking with parking lots. The future is apparently all about your sofa, a cup of tea, and a fingerprint login—which sounds pretty good to me. You don’t even have to put on pants.
Think about it: no more queueing behind someone arguing about a 50p charge. No more trying to find a pen that’s actually attached to the counter. The trade-off for branch closures is convenience—plus, you can deposit cheques by just snapping a photo. Magic!
Still, it’s a bummer for the employees who work at those branches. Halifax says they’ll try to redeploy as many staff as possible, which is nice. No word yet on whether they’ll get a parting gift, like a branded stress ball or a lifetime supply of those little deposit slips.
