Santander CUTS opening hours at hundreds of bank branches

SANTANDER has announced it will cut its opening hours as fewer customers are using its branches.

The changes mean most sites will operate from 9.30am to 3pm on weekdays, instead of until 4.30pm, from July.

Customers will be able to pre-book face-to-face appointments at the bank between 3pm and 5pm if necessary.

The shake-up will also see 316 of its 450 branches close earlier on Saturday.

They will move from being open from 9.30am to 4pm on Saturdays to operating a half-day service, closing at 12.30pm.

Santander said it will boost its phone support for customers.

Some Santander branches in shopping centres will be exempt from the earlier Monday to Friday closures.

These include the Gateshead Metro branch, which will open Monday to Friday from 10am to 6pm; the Sheffield Meadowhall branch will open on weekdays from 10.30am to 7.30pm; and the Basingstoke branch will be open Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 7pm.

The Work Cafe in Leeds will also be open on weekdays between 9am and 4.30pm, Santander said.

The number of customers using its branches fell by a third over the two years before the coronavirus pandemic, and a further 50% in 2020 and 12% in 2021.

The changes will take place from July 18 and Santander said there will be no compulsory redundancies or a reduction of employee working hours as a result.

It also confirmed that there won't be any branch closures due to the latest announcement.

Richard Owen, head of branches at Santander, said: "These changes will enable us to maintain our existing branch network while providing significant additional capacity to help customers who want to talk to us by phone.

"We have seen a continuing reduction in branch usage over several years, both before and since the peak of the pandemic, with many customers preferring to transact digitally or contact us by phone.

"We want to make sure we have the right mix of channels to help our customers however they choose to bank with us."

Santander said it will write to regular branch customers to explain the new opening hours and to offer support.

The bank closed 111 branches last year in response to more customers using online services.

That wave of closures came two years after it shuttered 140 sites in 2019.

Hundreds of branches have disappeared from the UK high street in recent years, with more set to get the chop in 2022.

Lloyd's Bank announced last month that will axe 60 stores this year, just days after HSBC revealed plans to get rid of 69 sites.