Overview
- Nationwide will hold a combined estate of 696 branches and will overtake Lloyds as the UK’s biggest branch network in early June after Lloyds begins a fresh round of 95 closures that will cut its estate to about 610 sites.
- The 696 branches comprise 605 Nationwide outlets and 91 Virgin Money sites and the building society has pledged to keep every one open until at least 2030 while it reviews future openings.
- Nationwide says in-branch demand is rising, with branch current-account openings up about 20% in the past year, and it is extending opening hours and Saturday availability to handle more complex face-to-face needs like fraud, bereavement and power of attorney.
- The group reported a pre-tax profit of £1.49 billion for the year to end-March, down from £2.3 billion the prior year, and will pay a fourth £100 'Fairer Share' member payment in June that will take total returns to members to roughly £1.5 billion since 2023.
- Nationwide is phasing the Virgin Money integration with the first branch rebrands expected in 2028 and says its larger network could help preserve local services such as cash access, digital-skills support and community clinics as rival banks continue to close branches.