According to data, one in five bank customers must travel an hour to reach their nearest branch.
This is due to the alarming rate of bank branch closures, leaving many users, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, with increasingly long journeys to access basic banking services.
The poll showed that almost a quarter of those living in Northern Ireland have to travel for over an hour, with 23.9% in the East Midlands facing a similar journey.
Some individuals must make a round trip of more than three hours to visit their nearest branch.
Residents in Yorkshire and the Humber, Scotland, and the North West spend the most time travelling to access services, usually facing a journey of 29 minutes.
In the past eight years, the number of bank branches has more than halved.
This has left many towns and villages without access to cash and the elderly and vulnerable without a financial lifeline.
Analysis from the consumer rights group Which? Banks and building societies have closed 5,201 sites since 2015, which is 53% of all branches.
So far this year, 263 branches have closed or are slated for closure, leaving households with no option but to make hour-long journeys for simple tasks, such as cashing in a cheque or speaking to a staff member in person.
Michael Conville, acting chief customer officer at Newcastle Building Society, stated that “the stark reality is that as branch closing increases, a growing proportion has to travel longer distances, at the increasing expense, to reach their local financial services and access cash.
This rise in branch closures is a concern for many as the trend continues across Britain and more communities become cut adrift.”
Due to the closure of high street bank branches, people rely more on taking out cash from ATMs.
However, these are also closing alarmingly, with more than 12,000 free-to-use ATMs removed since 2018.
This disproportionately affects rural areas, with a higher proportion of elderly residents sometimes reluctant to use internet banking and payment by card.
It recently emerged that Rutland will soon become the first county in England to not have a single bank branch when HSBC closes its Oakham outlet in June.
Almost three times more people now have a digital-only bank account than three years ago as customers are forced to access services online.
Approximately 24% have an account managed using online banking or a phone application instead of in a branch, up from 9% in 2019, according to a price comparison website Finder survey.
Over half of those over 74 said not having access to a bank branch was the primary reason they moved to digital-only banking.
»According to data, one in five bank customers travel an hour to reach nearest branch«
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