TSB is set to launch 43 new pop-up branches spread across the UK: 22 in England, 19 in Scotland, and two in Wales.

The move comes after the High Street bank’s decision to close almost half of its physical branches, approximately 80 in 2020 and 160 during the start of this year.

The first 18 pop-ups will be launched in April, with the others to follow between now and summer.

TSB confirmed most of the pop-ups will be based in locations where it takes its customers longer than 20 minutes to travel to their nearest branch, including town halls, libraries or community centres and other popular community hot spots.

In addition, TSB also said it is finalising a pilot which will allow customers to use a digital platform to deposit cash in selected local shops or supermarkets.

The High Street bank is partnering with payments and financial technology company Diebold Nixdorf and payments platform Paysafe to pilot the concept, due to start this month, in communities in Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.

TSB is just one of the High Street banks that has been shuttering its physical branches; Santander is set to close 111 branches by the end of August 2021, while HSBC announced plans to close 82 UK branches in January.

“Although we’ve seen a significant rise in customers using digital banking, we know accessing banking services and cash remains important to many customers and we’re always looking for innovative and inclusive ways to help them,” said Carol Anderson, director, branch banking, at TSB. “The pop-up service will support our customers in parts of the country where it takes longer to get to a branch.”

He added: “The pop-ups and future access to cash pilot will test demand for these types of services, giving us insight on what more we can do for customers in the future.”

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