HSBC is to close its branches in Arnold and Eastwood next year.

These are the two closest branches to Hucknall and will mean that residents who bank with HSBC will now need to travel into Nottingham city centre to access their nearest physical bank.

The bank announced today (Wednesday 30 November) that 114 of its branches will close starting in April 2023. The Arnold branch, on Front Street will close in May whilst the Eastwood branch on Nottingham Road, will close three months later in August.

This marks the latest blow for Hucknall based HSBC customers, who saw the town's branch close its doors to customers for the final time in January 2017.

The closures have been attributed to the rise in popularity of digital banking. According to statistics provided by HSBC, 97.5% of transactions are now completed digitally. The usage of the mobile app has almost tripled (up by 280%) since 2017 and consequently footfall in nearly three quarters of the closing branches has reduced by at least 50%.

Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK's Managing Director of UK Distribution, said: "People are changing the way they bank and footfall in many branches is at an all-time low, with no signs of it returning. Banking remotely is becoming the norm for the vast majority of us. Not only can we do it anywhere at any time of day or night, many more things can be done at the customers' convenience and don't rely on a branch visit.

"Branches will continue to play an important role in day-to-day banking, while providing specialist face-to-face support in moments that matter. In addition to our branch network, customers can access services through the Post Office network, our Community Pop-ups and soon-to-come Banking Hubs, alongside Live Chat, social media and through telephone banking.

"The decision to close a branch is never easy or taken lightly, especially if we are the last branch in an area, so we've invested heavily in our 'post closure' strategy, including providing free tablet devices to selected branch customers who do not already have a device to bank digitally, alongside one-to-one coaching to help them migrate to digital banking."

Following the closures HSBC will be left with a UK network of 327 branches.