Nationwide has announced that it will continue to keep every one of its 696 Nationwide and Virgin Money branches open until at least 2030.

The move comes as figures from consumer champion Which? show that 6,561 national bank branches have been closed since January 2015

The building society said that branch closures have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable customers, including older people, many of whom rely on face-to-face services and support.

Additionally, younger people rely on branches too as Nationwide said that more than one in ten of its new student accounts were opened in branches this new academic year.

Nationwide claims it now operates the UK’s biggest single-brand banking network, with 605 branches.

When combined with Virgin Money’s 91 branches, the network totals 696 branches.

Research from Nationwide shows increased branch usage and account openings through 2025, particularly in areas where Nationwide is the “last branch in town.”

Since January, another 33 Nationwide branches became the last in town when other banks closed their branches.

Nationwide is now the last branch standing in 133 UK towns and villages.

The new commitment, which extends the company’s existing Branch Promise by at least another two years, applies even when a Nationwide branch and a Virgin Money branch are close to each other.

Nationwide’s Branch Promise was first introduced in 2019, and was extended last year, when the bank included the Virgin Money branches it inherited after acquiring the company in October 2024.

Alongside its branches, Nationwide said it continues to invest heavily in its digital channels, with the number of customers using its banking app growing by 12.8 per cent year-on-year.

“Our customers can be confident that they can bank with us whichever way they choose. Branches are important to our customers, to communities, and to the health of our High Streets,” said Dame Debbie Crosbie DBE, group chief executive at Nationwide. “That’s why
Nationwide will continue to keep branches open in addition to our investment in online and telephone channels.”

In August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that UK banks have closed more than one in three branches since 2019, slimming the country’s High Street network to 6,870 outlets.

This figure represents a 34 per cent decrease from 10,410 sites five years ago, and the retreat is set to continue with another 113 closures by Lloyds, NatWest, Halifax and Bank of Scotland scheduled before the end of November.

Banks argue that customers are voting with their thumbs. From 2020 to 2024 the share of Britons using digital channels to reach banking services rose from 33 per cent to 59 per cent, while branch footfall kept falling.

In response to new Financial Conduct Authority rules requiring firms to plug gaps in cash provision, major lenders have pledged 350 shared banking hubs, operated by the Post Office, by 2029. To date only 179 have opened.

The ONS figures show there is now one branch for every 10,000 people in the UK, compared with 4.9 in France and 2.5 in Spain and Portugal.

In June, NatWest announced plans to close 55 more branches across the UK this year, including 52 traditional High Street locations and three mobile banking vans, as the banking giant continues its shift towards digital services.

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