By Lesley Walsh
YET another national bank is pulling out of Bangor.
Santander, which is situated at 64 Main Street, will close on April 29, one of four branches across Northern Ireland earmarked for closure, alongside branches in Banbridge, Enniskillen and Glengormley.
The Newtownards branch at Conway Square, will remain open.
The Spanish-owned bank said the closures are part of an overhaul of its services prompted by a shift towards online banking.
The banking giant said up to 96 per cent of its customers carried out their transactions online and follows the closure of 95 branches last March.
Santander said customers of the closed branches will have ‘community bankers’ operating from local banking hubs to keep a presence in local communities.
The move leaves the city centre with just the Bank of Ireland, and the Nationwide and Progressive building societies.
Danske also has a branch at Bangor’s Bloomfield Shopping Centre.
The city has witnessed the withdrawal of a number of financial services firms in recent years, with the Halifax branch being among the latter closures, shutting down last May.
Barclays closed down its branch on Main Street the previous in 2024, though it offers what it calls ‘Barclays Local’ at the former Northern Bank. Now Gifted Enterprise, the banking hub, at 77 Main Street, is open five days a week but does not offer counter or cash services.
Among Barclays’ suggested alternatives when it was closed was Bangor Post Office, but it closed last November.
The closure of the Halifax last spring prompted complaints that its removal was another ‘kick in the teeth’, especially for vulnerable customers not comfortable with online or telephone banking.
This latest closure has been described as ‘yet another blow’, and ‘an attack on digitally excluded’ customers.
The small but unconfirmed number of staff working in the Bangor branch currently don’t know if they are going to be made redundant or if they will find work in other local branches.
They have to await the outcome of a consultation process with unions before their fates are confirmed.
Customers who expressed concern at the Bangor branch on the day of the news, were being told by staff that they could use the neighbouring Newtownards branch, perhaps putting a good spin on it that was ‘not far away’.
In its statement accounting the closure, a spokesperson for Santander UK, said: “In response to a continuing and sizeable shift towards customers using digital banking, we are making changes to our branches to better support our customers.
“We will continue to invest in both our branch network – comprising of full-service branches, counter-free branches, reduced-hour branches, Santander Locals, and our increasingly popular Work Cafés – as well as our digital banking services, so we can be there to support our customers however they choose to bank with us.”
