UK access to banking
The closure of high street bank branches has become one of the most contentious issues in UK financial services.
Since 2015 the UK has lost more than half of its branch network, and branch closures now rank among the issues constituents raise most often with their MPs. The FCA’s 2024 Financial Lives Survey found that 9.5 million people, around one in six adults, struggle to get to a bank branch.
The instinctive response has been to call for more physical provision. More branches, more Banking Hubs, more Post Office counters. At 56° North, our research has found that physical service provision across the country is in fact relatively high, but access to specific services at each physical point of access is varied. To ensure access to banking services can take place at any physical point of access our research suggests a triage-based model is needed.
Triaged-based banking access would start with simple telephone or digital help, escalate to pointing the consumer towards a community banker and reserve full specialist services for more complex cases. For constituents, that means the people who struggle today are actively identified and offered proactive help, rather than left to find a branch that may no longer be there or turning up to a location to find the relevant specialist is only there on certain days. The test should not be whether a branch sits within a set distance, but whether the person who needs help can be offered the right banking service in good time.
What is access to banking like near you?
Our interactive chart maps banking hubs, bank branches and Post Offices against the FCA’s access to cash criteria.
The baseline is a service point within 1 mile in urban areas and 3 miles in rural areas, urban being the built-up extent of a settlement of 10,000 or more people.
Explore the map here
Overview
Two separate issues are often treated as one: access to banking and access to cash. The difference matters. Cash will always be physical; most banking services need not be. The majority of the UK population now bank digitally without assistance. The FCA’s 2024 Financial Lives Survey found the number of digitally excluded adults has fallen to just 1.2 million, down from 6.9 million in 2017. The real concern is the minority who may be unable to make that shift: older constituents, those without reliable internet, and people who simply prefer to deal with someone in person. What they need is not necessarily a branch nearby, but a clear and reliable route to the right level of support.
To demonstrate that physical provision is currently high across the country but access still lacks we have created a heatmap of Access to Banking by Constituency
In May 2026, HM Treasury commissioned an independent Access to Banking Review, chaired by Richard Lloyd OBE. Its Call for Evidence is open until 20 July 2026, and its findings will help shape legislation under the forthcoming Financial Services Bill. This is a genuine opportunity for MPs to define what a minimum access to banking standard should look like.
About 56° North
56° North is an independent strategic communications and public policy consultancy.
Based in Edinburgh, London and Newcastle, we have led communications, public affairs and policy for the UK’s biggest companies, organisations and government. We provide expert advice on clients’ communications, policy and political challenges, especially in regulated sectors such as financial services.
