MONMOUTH’s branch of Santander will close on 30th May as the bank announced the closure of 140 branches, putting 1,270 jobs at risk.

The Spanish-owned bank said the number of transactions carried out in branches has fallen by 23 per cent over the past three years, while transactions via digital channels have grown by 99 per cent over the same period.

A statement from Santander said the bank: “will support customers of closing branches to find other ways to bank that best suit their needs, including individual help to find alternative Santander branches and access digital, telephone and Post Office banking services.”

The bank said it expects to be able to redeploy around a third of those whose jobs will be affected by the closures.

Susan Allen, Head of Retail and Business Banking, said: "The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels. As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity.

"We will support customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs. We are also working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles for those impacted wherever possible."

"We continue to believe that branches have a vital role to play and we will be refurbishing 100 of our branches over the next two years. We are confident that following these changes we will have the right branch network to serve our customers’ changing needs, and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future.