Natwest confirms closure of Ringwood High Street branch from October

A NEW Forest town is set to lose another bank after Natwest confirmed it will shut its high street site.

The branch in High Street, Ringwood, will shut its doors to customers on 1st October as part of 55 branches being closed by the bank nationwide.

In a statement NatWest said: “The way people bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with an increased demand for mobile and online services as customers benefit from a faster and easier way to bank.

“While we respond to that demand, we recognise our responsibility to provide customers who feel less able to make use of these services with support for the change.

“That’s why we are communicating with our customers affected by the closure and proactively contacting vulnerable customers and regular branch users. We must review our branches and make sure they are in locations where customers use them most.”

Commenting on the closure, one resident said: “Whatever happened to personal choice. Not everyone can or wants to do online banking. Plus another nail in killing off the high street.”

As reported in the A&T, Ringwood saw the closure of HSBC in 2022 and then Barclays a year later.