A NORTH CORNWALL town is set to lose its final traditional bank branch with the announcement that it will close in 2025.
The Lloyds Branch on Molesworth Street in Wadebridge will close for the final time on February 17, 2025.
It will become the final branch in the town centre to shut up shop, although the bank has promised that a ‘community banker’ will continue to visit the area.
The announcement is the latest in a tsunami of bank closures across Cornwall, with the town losing its Barclays and HSBC branches in the last year and comes months after neighbouring town Bodmin will also lose its branch, which will close in September 2024 upon the opening of a proposed ‘banking hub’.
Upon the closure, the two nearest remaining branches of Lloyds will be located in St Austell and Truro.
The ATM (cash machine) outside of the bank will also close, leaving two main options for residents to withdraw their money with machines outside of the town’s Co-Op supermarket and at Tesco Wadebridge, located on the outside of the town.
Post Office services will also be available after the recent re-opening of the Wadebridge Post Office after months of closure during 2023.
In a document confirming the closure, the bank said that it would close the branch as ‘customers are banking in different ways’.
The document claims that 722 customers used the facilities at the branch for money transactions in four months out of the six ending February 2024.
It also revealed that the majority of customers affected by the closure are people over 55, with its own figures revealing that 61% of customers using the branch were aged between 55 and 74 and 75 and over.
A spokesperson for Lloyds Bank said: “As many customers now choose to bank through their mobile app or online, visits to our Wadebridge branch have fallen over recent years. The local Post Office offers everyday banking, with cash also available at close by free-to-use ATMs.
“Customers can also manage their money through our mobile banking apps, online, by calling us or speaking to a Community Banker.”