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Britain's TSB Bank to shutter 82 branches
November 27, 2019
Britain's TSB Bank announced Monday that it will close 82 branches next year in an effort to reduce costs by 100 million pounds ($128 million).
Debbi Crosbie, the bank's new CEO, is behind the effort, according to a press release.
The Edinburgh-based bank, which has 540 branches, had previously announced that it would close four units before the end of 2019. By the end of next year, it will have 454 branches. The bank has not revealed the number of related job losses, but estimates put it at 300-400 positions.
Crosbie replaced former CEO Paul Pester, after he stepped down in September 2008, following an IT meltdown that began in April 2018, when an attempt to migrate customer data to a new computer system went awry. As a result, 1.9 million people were locked out of their accounts.
Since then, the bank has been trying to rebuild its reputation, but it suffered a setback last week when another IT debacle delayed wages and other vital payments from hitting customer accounts.
"The plan we're sharing today involves some difficult decisions, but it sets TSB up to succeed in the future," Crosbie said in the release. "Taken together, these changes will help us to serve more customers, better, for the long-term."
The bank said it also plans to spend 120 million pounds ($155 million) to transform digital channels over the next three years. That includes mobile in-app onboarding and investing in the automation of some of its branches.
TSB was spun out of Lloyds in September 2013, after Lloyds was bailed out by U.K. taxpayers in 2008. It was bought in 2015, by Spain's Sabadell Bank.
