Santander has made a commitment to keep all its bank branches open until at least 2028, including those of TSB, which it recently acquired for £2.65 billion. The bank has identified 44 branches for closure this year, resulting in 291 job cuts, leaving a total of 305 Santander branches and 175 TSB branches in operation across the UK.
In its latest half-year results, Santander disclosed a 31% decline in pre-tax profits to £528 million for the first half of the year. The bank attributed this drop partly to setting aside an additional £179 million to cover costs related to the car finance mis-selling scandal, which is facing legal disputes.
Moreover, Santander reported an increase of £173 million in bad debt charges due to a deteriorating economic outlook in 2026 amid the Iran conflict and the TSB acquisition. Despite these challenges, the bank aims to achieve savings of at least £400 million by the end of 2028 through enhanced utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technologies.
Mahesh Aditya, CEO of Santander UK, emphasized the importance of branches in the bank’s strategy and reassured that no further closures of Santander or TSB branches are planned before 2028. Aditya highlighted the goal of integrating TSB with Santander UK to offer a blend of digital services and personalized customer support.
Santander recently introduced a new regular saver account, offering an 8% interest rate on savings up to £200 per month. The account includes a 5% variable bonus in the first year, reverting to a 3% variable rate thereafter, and is open to all Santander current account holders with a minimum balance requirement of £1 per account.
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