Nationwide Building Society has promised to keep all of its branches open until at least 2026 to serve local communities.

Nationwide claims it has invested £46 million over the past three years to keep its branches open on local High Streets.

The building society citied its own research which found that 77 per cent of people value or depend on branches.

Around 36 per cent of current accounts at Nationwide were opened in branch, while almost a fifth of visits are for financial advice. A further third of those surveyed in the bank’s research said that a local bank branch enhanced their High Street.

A number of 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. Barclays also recently announced it will close almost 70 branches this year, while HSBC will shut over 100 branches.

Nationwide’s decision to keep branches open is supported by SaveTheHighStreet.org, which has called on other major High Street banks to do the same.

Commenting on the news, Debbie Crosbie, chief executive of Nationwide Building Society said: “Nationwide is different. We give customers a choice about how they do their banking and we support the British High Street. Because our customers value face-to-face contact, and we’re owned by them, we act in their interests.”

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