A number of Suffolk and north Essex's Santander branches will be reducing their open hours on a Saturday later this year.

The bank's usual opening hours of 9.30am to 4pm on Saturdays will be reduced to a half-day service and close at 12.30pm.

The change in opening hours will come into place from July 18.

The branches in Suffolk and north Essex that will reduce their opening hours are:

  • Bury St Edmunds
  • Ipswich
  • Braintree
  • Colchester
  • Lowestoft
  • Maldon

Richard Owen, head of branches at Santander, said: “These changes will enable us to maintain our existing branch network while providing significant additional capacity to help customers who want to talk to us by phone.

“We have seen a continuing reduction in branch usage over several years, both before and since the peak of the pandemic, with many customers preferring to transact digitally or contact us by phone.

“We want to make sure we have the right mix of channels to help our customers however they choose to bank with us.”

It follows an announcement last month by HSBC of three Suffolk branches to close.