Nationwide offers major update on branch closures

The UK and the world's biggest building society has announced it will be keeping all of its UK branches open until at least 2030. Nationwide Building Society has promised to keep all Nationwide and Virgin Money branches open until this date, thereby extending its current pledge by another two years. The commitment covers both Nationwide and Virgin Money locations, following the society's acquisition of Virgin Money last year.

While many UK banks are retreating from the high street and shutting branches as more customers switch to online and mobile banking, Nationwide said it has actually seen an increase in people using its branches despite the digital shift. Nationwide said its branches remain popular, with an 11% increase in customers using them over the past year.

The company also reported that over a third (33%) of Nationwide current accounts and more than a fifth (22%) of savings accounts were opened in branch in the six months to the end of September, with volumes up 28% and 31% respectively year on year.

ATM usage saw a 5% increase within this period, with a 17% increase among non-Nationwide customers using in-branch ATMs. The building society said more people are opening accounts in towns where it's now the last bank left standing.

In places where Nationwide became the only branch in 2025, new current account openings jumped by nearly a third compared with the previous year.

Cash machine use at those sites was also up by 25%, while the number of non-Nationwide customers using the ATMs increased by 96%, it reported.

The announcement comes as hundreds of bank branches in the UK have closed over the past year. According to consumer group Which?, in the past 10 years, over 6,000 UK bank branches have closed their doors.

Dame Debbie Crosbie, Group Chief Executive at Nationwide, said: "Branches are important to our customers, to communities and to the health of our high streets.

"That's why Nationwide will continue to keep branches open in addition to our investment in online and telephone channels."

After closing about 20% of its branches in the ten years leading up to 2023, Nationwide made a commitment not to close any more branches until at least 2026.

Last year, Nationwide faced criticism from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which banned a TV advert featuring actor Dominic West.

The regulator ruled that the campaign, which implied Nationwide was not closing any branches, was misleading, noting that the building society had shut a number of locations in previous years and that its "no closures" commitment was only guaranteed until 2026.