Yorkshire has the worst bank branch access in the country

Birthplace of the Yorkshire pudding, the Brontë Sisters and Monty Python’s Four Yorkshiremen, ‘God’s Own Country’ now also has the dubious honour of having the worst bank branch access in the UK.

Our analysis shows the Yorkshire and Humber region has just 248 branches left to serve a population of 5.6 million. 

This equates to 4.4 branches per 100,000 people, leaving every Yorkshire resident sharing their branch with 22,600 others.

Here Which? takes a closer look at Yorkshire's banks, compares it to other parts of the UK, and explains what's being done to protect access to cash.

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Big differences in branch access

The issue of bank branch access has been steadily worsening in the past decade across all regions of the UK. 

While Scotland has the ‘best’ access to branches, at 6.9 per 100,000 people, its population is spread unevenly across the country and those living in more rural areas still face long journeys to use a bank.

Faring slightly better is the West Midlands region, with six branches per 100,000 people. The East Midlands region, however, has the second-worst access to banks per population – just 4.6 branches per 100,000 people.

When we looked at branch access by Parliamentary constituency, the results were also concerning.

Yorkshire and the Humber also has nine Parliamentary constituencies without a single bank branch left, the most of any region: Barnsley South, Bradford South, Colne Valley, Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, Ossett and Denby Dale, Penistone and Stocksbridge, Rawmarsh and Conisbrough, Sheffield Hallam and York Outer.

Across the UK, there are 30 parliamentary constituencies – totalling just over three million people – without a single bank branch, while another 56 are left with only one branch remaining.

How the regions compare

UK branch network decimated

Since January 2015, 6,161 branches have been shuttered across the country, which represents about 62% of the 2015 banking network. 

The South East has lost the most branches of any region: 856 closures, followed by London with 804 closures. However, these regions had many branches to start with – the South East had 1,376 when we started tracking closures in 2015. 

By comparison, Yorkshire and the Humber had 728 open branches, equivalent to 13 branches per 100,000 people. Since then two thirds of these branches (480) have closed.

Barclays has shut the most branches (92) in Yorkshire, followed by HSBC (73) and NatWest (69). 

Conversely, Halifax, which was founded in Yorkshire, has maintained the largest presence of any bank in the region, with 43 operational branches, followed by Lloyds (32). Both banks are members of the Lloyds Banking Group.

• Find out more: Bank branch closures: is your local bank closing? 

New rules to plug branch gaps

Banks and building societies closing branches will have to protect customers’ access to cash under new rules implemented by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

According to the financial watchdog, banks and building societies will need to weigh up whether local communities lack access to cash services – such as branches and ATMs – and plug significant gaps.

Specifically, they will be required to assess cash access and check whether additional services are needed when changes are made to local services, such as the closure of a local branch.

The new rules also state that local residents and community groups will be able to request an assessment of whether there are gaps in local cash access, which providers must respond to. These requests can be made via Link, which operates much of the UK's ATM network and co-ordinates between the FCA and banks on access to cash.

Where significant gaps are found, providers will have to deliver reasonable additional cash services.

In such cases, banks and building societies will be required to keep facilities such as branches and ATMs open until alternative cash services become available.

According to the FCA, gaps could be filled with a range of measures, including banking hubs, ATMs and Post Office facilities.

• Find out more: watchdog uses new powers to protect access to cash