Nationwide Building Society is set to overtake Lloyds Banking Group to become the owner of the largest branch network in the United Kingdom next month. The mutual's chief executive, Dame Debbie Crosbie, has declared that the "tide is turning" as in-person banking regains popularity among consumers.
Branch Network Expansion
The building society expects its chain of 696 branches will soon be the largest in the country. This shift comes as Lloyds initiates a new round of closures across its brands, including Halifax and Bank of Scotland, later this month. Once the 95 closures are completed, Lloyds will have 610 branches remaining by March next year.
Dame Debbie noted that Nationwide's branches are increasingly popular with customers. "We see huge success in our branch network and continue to see it, so perhaps the tide is turning and we will certainly continue to invest in our branches," she said. The number of people opening current accounts with Nationwide through its branches has increased by 20% over the past year.
Commitment to Branches
Nationwide has pledged to keep its 605 Nationwide branches and 91 Virgin Money sites open until at least 2030. While the building society has no immediate plans to open new branches, Dame Debbie said the situation will be kept under review. Instead, the focus is on extending opening hours, with increased demand for Saturday and longer weekday hours. "What we are finding is that more and more people really value face-to-face, human contact, particularly for areas like fraud, bereavement and power of attorney," she added.
Fairer Share Payment
Nationwide also announced its latest "Fairer Share" payment, the fourth since the profit-sharing initiative began. Around 4.4 million members will be eligible for a £100 bonus in June. The building society said approximately £1.5 billion will have been returned to members since the scheme's launch in 2023. It aims to make the payments annually, subject to the group's financial performance.
Financial Performance
The group's latest financial results showed a pre-tax profit of £1.49 billion for the year to the end of March, down from £2.3 billion the previous year. Nationwide attributed the decline to a one-off gain from the acquisition of Virgin Money in the prior year, which is now being integrated into the group. The Virgin Money brand is set to be phased out, with customers transitioning to Nationwide, and the first rebranding of branches expected in 2028.
