EVESHAM’s TSB will close its doors on May 4 with bank bosses blaming a rise in digital banking for their decision to swing the axe.
The Bridge Street branch is one of nine to close in May, just 18 months after it last avoided closure in a cull which saw 70 sites close their doors.
According to the review of the branch seen by the Observer, 52 per cent of customers now use mobile, telephone or online banking rising to 92 per cent for the bank’s business customers.
A total of 12 per cent of customers use services at the bank’s ATM while 20 per cent use the Post Office in addition to the branch.
According to the figures, almost half – 49 per cent – of the branch’s customers are aged 65 or older and 59 per cent of customers use another TSB in addition to the Evesham site.
The review has claimed customers would be able to visit a number of branches and have suggested Tewksbury despite it being 13 miles away from Evesham.
A TSB spokesperson said: “We have not taken the decision to close our Evesham branch lightly, but our customers are banking differently – with more using digital banking.
“Customer transactions at the branch have fallen by 21 per cent between November 2020 and November 2022.
“There is also a Post Office and a number of free-to-use ATMs within a mile of the branch.”
We reported in November 2021 how bank chiefs blamed their closure programme on a decrease in branch use.
According to TSB, the average number of transactions per branch have been falling since January 2019 with no prospect of branch transactions returning to pre-Covid levels.
It added the pandemic had further accelerated the shift away from branch services, with customers shopping and doing more online.
