Richard Ault Chief Feature Writer
05:01, 08 Dec 2025
Close-up of a woman’s hands using a bank ATM, inserting a credit card while typing on the keypad. Cash withdrawing, paying bills, checking account balance, transferring money, currency exchange at ATM. Self-service concept.
Bristol has lost six banks from its high streets this year as the shift towards digital banking continues to impact communities around Bristol.
The closures were part of a wider national trend that saw 536 branches shut down across the UK in 2025 with Lloyds and Halifax customers hit hardest.
Lloyds Banking Group shut three of the six in Bristol – Patchway, Clifton and Bishopsworth. NatWest closed its doors in Fishponds and Yate, while Halifax quit the Kings Chase Shopping Centre in Kingswood.
Earlier this week Lloyds announced it would be closing its Thornbury branch in February next year. The LINK initiative was established to scrutinise each closure and ensure that vulnerable customers and small businesses were not left behind in the transition to cashless payments and virtual banking.
A spokesperson for LINK said: “More and more people are choosing new ways to pay, but millions of people and businesses up and down the country still rely on cash.
“That’s why, whenever a bank branch closes, we assess what the local community needs – which could be a free-to-use ATM, improvements at the local post office, or, in some cases, a banking hub, to manage cash locally.
“We will continue to ensure people and businesses can continue to access cash where and when they need it.”
Branches have shut in Bishopsworth, Clifton, Fishponds, Kingswood, Patchway and Yate leaving residents with fewer options for face-to-face services.
Gareth Oakley, chief executive at Cash Access UK, said: “While more people are choosing to bank and pay for things digitally, there are still millions of people who rely on and prefer to use cash as well as many businesses who need to bank and access cash daily.
“At Cash Access UK we are working to deliver banking hubs, alongside deposit services, which play an important role in protecting access to cash and face-to-face services.
“Banking hubs are shared spaces on the high street where customers of all major banks can carry out regular cash transactions including cash withdrawals and deposits as well as checking balances or paying bills and where businesses can also access change-giving services.”
Almost 250 banking hubs have been recommended to replace closed or closing bank branches, with 192 currently operational.