The UK now has 150 banking hubs; is there one close to you?

A Post Office contract that provides basic banking services has also been extended until 2030 in conjunction with the opening of the 150th banking hub

We give you an explanation of what this means.

The Post Office will continue to provide basic banking services until 2030, and customers who find it difficult to conduct daily banking because their local bank branch is far away will be happy to hear that 150 banking hubs are now operational.

In order to maintain services at Post Office counters for at least the next five years, major banks and building societies have agreed to a 1 point 75 billion contract. At the end of this year, the current agreement was set to expire.

As banks continue to close branches at an alarming rate, the announcement was made. For example, Santander claims it will close 95 branches throughout the UK, endangering 750 jobs, while Lloyds Banking Group plans to close nearly 300 bank branches in 2025 and 2026.

Bank branch closures are causing many towns and villages to have zero or fewer branches, forcing many customers to travel farther to visit a branch in order to pay in a check, open or close an account, or consult with an adviser about products like mortgages or savings accounts.

For their banking requirements, some clients might be able to use a banking hub or the local Post Office.

As of right now, 150 banking hubs are operational. In response to the closure of bank branches in Darwen, Lancashire, chancellor Rachel Reeves opened the 100th banking hub in the United Kingdom at the end of last year.

Operating under several banking brands, banking hubs provide customers with in-person access to standard banking services like cash withdrawal and check deposit.

By 2029, the Labour government has promised to open 350 banking hubs.

Since January 2015, over 6,300 banks and building societies have shut down, according to consumer advocacy group Which?

We examine who is eligible to use the Post Office's basic banking service, how banking hubs operate, and whether there is one in your area.

Which banking services do post offices offer?

Under "The Banking Framework," the Post Office provides regular banking services to clients of 30 banks and building societies, both personally and commercially.

Customers of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, NatWest Group, and Santander are included in this. The framework will remain in effect until at least 2030, having been established in 2017.

Depending on which bank or building society you are a customer of, the services you can use at a post office vary, but generally speaking, you can check your balance, deposit cash or checks, and make withdrawals.

Among the things you are not allowed to do are opening or closing accounts, transferring funds between accounts, and registering a durable power of attorney.

Which? claims that some banks are also reducing the services that are offered through post offices.

Customers were recently informed by Lloyds Banking Group (which includes Bank of Scotland, Halifax, and Lloyds) that they would no longer be able to use personalized pay-in slips at post offices starting on June 2 and that checks would no longer be accepted after December 31, 2025.

How do banking centers operate?

The Post Office runs banking hubs, which are owned by Cash Access UK. They provide in-person banking services, including cash withdrawal and check deposit, and are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additionally, consumers can top up their gas and electricity, pay utility bills, and check their balance.

One day per week, community bankers from each of the five banks with the most clients in the region usually visit to help their clients with more complicated banking matters, such as fraud support, debt advice, and bereavement services.

Lloyds will open on Monday, followed by NatWest on Tuesday, HSBC and Barclays on Wednesday, Santander on Thursday, and Halifax on Friday at the new banking hub in Kirkham, Lancashire, which is the 150th to be opened.

"The implementation of banking hubs will be a major boost for local people and businesses, helping to revitalise the local high street and raise living standards across the UK," the Treasury stated last year.

By the end of 2025, 230 hubs are anticipated to be operational.

Is there a banking center in your area?

This is a list of banking hubs located throughout the United Kingdom.

Home counties and London.

Acton, London.

In Bedfordshire, Ampthill.

Haslemere, Surrey.

Bury Park, Luton, Bedfordshire.

Essex's Rochford.

Hertfordshire, Royston.

Worcestershire's Ware.

Kent Welling.

London's Greater Drayton.

England's east and Midlands.

Lincolnshire, Barton-on-Humber.

Belper, Derbyshire.

Buckingham and Buckinghamshire.

Clay Cross, Derbyshire.

Norfolk, Downham Market.

Harleston, Norfolk.

Suffolk's Haverhill.

Nottinghamshire's Ashfield is home to Kirkby.

Leicester County's Lutterworth.

Lincolnshire, Mablethorpe.

Rutland at Oakham.

Pershore, Worcestershire.

Derbyshire, Shirebrook.

The town of Stapleford, Nottingham.

Leicestershire; Syston.

Watton, Norfolk. .

Northern England.

The Lancashire town of Barnoldswick.

Batley, West Yorkshire.

Bramhall, Lancashire.

Staffordshire's Cheadle.

East Yorkshire, at Cottingham.

Elland, West Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire, Filey.

Greater Manchester's Heywood.

East Yorkshire, Hornsea.

In Lancashire, Horwich.

North Yorkshire, specifically Knaresborough.

Maryport, Cumbria.

Durham County's Newton Aycliffe.

West Yorkshire, Ossett.

West Yorkshire, Otley.

Merseyside's Prescot.

Greater Manchester, Ramsbottom.

Greater Manchester's Stalybridge.

Stone, Staffordshire.

South Yorkshire city of Thorne.

Cumbria's Ulverston.

South Yorkshire's Wath upon Dearne.

On Merseyside, in West Kirby.

Yorkshire's East Withernsea.

West and south of England.

Devon's Axminster.

Cornwall's Bodmin.

The Devon town of Brixham.

DevonDartmouth.

Devon, Dawlish.

Cornwall's Helston.

CornwallLooe.

Wiltshire, Bassett, Royal Wootton.

Cornwall, Saltash.

South Sussex's Shoreham-by-Sea.

Sidmouth, Devon.

The Devon town of Teignmouth.

Somerset's Wellington.

Northern Ireland.

Kilkeel. .

Scotland.

Brechin. .

Cambuslang.

The Carluke.

The carnoustie.

Crieff. .

Cumnock.

The Girvan.

Forres.

In Jedburgh.

Kilwin.

Kirkcudbright. .

Ayrshire's Troon.

Wales. .

Abergele.

Abertillery.

The Porthcawl.

Prestatyn.

Treorchy.

Wales.