Major high street bank to make changes at hundreds of branches – and customers will not be happy
A MAJOR high street bank is making changes at hundreds of branches and customers will not be impressed.
Barclays is set to cut opening hours are the majority of its branches within months.
From August 7, the banking giant will be closing a large number of branches at 3pm instead of 5.30pm.
What’s more, on a Saturday the standard operating hours will be changed from 9.30am to 1.30pm or 4pm to closing at 1pm across most of its locations.
It’s not all bad news though because counter operating hours within branches will be increased across some locations.
Currently, some pull down the shutters at 2pm and others close an hour before the bank shuts its doors.
This will be extended until 3pm, in line with the new closing time.
Barclays told The Sun that counter hours will increase at 86% of branches.
A minority of branches won’t see any changes to their operating hours due to specific lease agreements with their landlords.
According to Barclays, 96% of personal customers and 97% of business and corporate clients visit branches before 3pm.
A Barclays spokesperson said: “Our new midweek opening hours of 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday will bring consistency to branches across the UK, reducing confusion and ensuring we are open during the times customers visit most.
“These changes also include aligning our counter service to opening hours midweek, so our counter is open until the branch closes. Customers, including SMEs, can continue to bank outside these hours across a range of channels including the Barclays app, our telephony service and via video banking appointments.”
The chain currently has 440 branches across its network in the UK.
Barclays’ changes to its opening hours is yet another blow to customers as the chain has closed dozens of branches already this year, with at least 69 more set to shut by mid-September.
The closures come following an increase in customers at major high street banks shifting to banking online and on apps.
But there are still a number of ways in which affected customers can access basic banking services without having to venture to the next town.
If the latest raft of closures will leave you with no bank in your town, you should be able to do most basic tasks at your local Post Office.
You can use one of the Post Office’s nearly 12,000 branches to perform basic banking tasks — but not open new bank accounts or take personal loans and mortgages.
Many banks also offer a mobile banking service, which is where your bank brings a bus to your local area that has the services that are usually available at your branch.
You should call up your bank to see if it runs such a service and they will be able to tell you where and when it will be parked.
Other banks use buildings such as village halls or libraries to offer mobile banking services.
Meanwhile, we’ve rounded up the full list of banks closing locations in May.
Plus, check out all the branches set to close throughout 2023.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk