Overview
- The extension of the Branch Promise covers 605 Nationwide sites and 91 Virgin Money locations, with no closures planned even where branches are close together.
- Nationwide reports an 11% rise in branch usage over the past year, with 33% of current accounts and 22% of savings accounts opened in person in the six months to the end of September.
- The society says it is now the last branch standing in 133 towns and villages, with 33 more branches becoming the only local option this year as rivals exited.
- The move contrasts with sector-wide retrenchment, as Which? counts more than 6,000 closures over the past decade and 6,731 projected by the end of 2025 across major banks.
- Branches are positioned as community hubs hosting dementia clinics, domestic‑abuse safe spaces and fraud‑prevention services, with the pledge following past Nationwide closures and an ASA ruling that criticised a prior no‑closures advert.