Nationwide says it now has more branches open on the High Street than any other major bank.

The building society said it has 605 branches in the UK, narrowly beating Lloyds Bank which has 598.

The bank added that NatWest has 485 branches whilst Halifax has 476 on the High Steet.

According to its research, Nationwide said that around two thirds of people – 63 per cent – value their local branch, citing face-to-face service as their top reason.

Nationwide added that that 90 per cent of its customers live within a 15-minute drive of their local branch, with a quarter of all its savings account openings taking place in person.

In June this year, Nationwide pledged to keep all its branches open until at least 2026 to serve local communities.

Over the past year, several British High Street banks have announced they are closing their branches due to a shift towards online banking.

In March, NatWest and Lloyds Banking Group said they would close 81 branches between them. During the same month, Barclays also announced that it will close almost 70 branches in 2023.

At the end of last year, HSBC said it would shut over 100 branches.

Debbie Crosbie, chief executive at the building society, said: “Nationwide provides the face-to-face service that people value and need. We’re the large-scale alternative to shareholder owned banks and now we have the biggest branch network too. Our branches are busy and we’re an important part of local communities.”

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