Lloyds Banking Group has revealed 44 new branch closures, drawing a line under the provision of face-to-face services in 155 branches in total by the end of 2023 and 40 in 2024.
In 2023, it will close 86 Lloyds Bank sites, 53 Halifax branches and 16 Bank of Scotland sites.
The bank has also pushed back the closing date of 16 branches from this year into next year.
A Lloyds spokesperson says: “Our customers are increasingly using digital channels to manage their money - we now have over 20 million regular digital users, so it’s important we continue to develop the online services our customers want to use.”
The news comes just a week after Virgin Money announced plans to axe 30% of its branch network, following a growing trend among the UK's major banks. Barclays has already committed to shutting down 156 branches this year, NatWest is drawing the blinds on 143 branches, and HSBC has earmarked 114 branches for closure.