The Halifax branch at 376–378 Bethnal Green Road is due to close permanently on 22 October, ending 46 years of in-person banking at the site. It is the last remaining bank serving Bethnal Green High Street and Roman Road, following NatWest’s closure in 2023. For residents and traders who still rely on a counter, the decision turns a long-running shift towards online banking into a practical question of where local customers can go next.
The branch is open from Monday to Friday, with weekday opening times between 9.30am and 3.30pm, apart from a 10am start on Wednesdays. It is closed at weekends. Customers who need help with a transaction or account issue in person therefore have a limited period to visit before the final day. Branch services and cash availability can also be subject to daily limits.
Halifax says the closure reflects more customers moving their banking online. The bank’s website directs customers to its app and online banking for tasks including changing personal details and paying in a cheque. Those options can make routine transactions easier for people who are comfortable using them, but they do not remove the need for an accessible face-to-face alternative for every customer.
The nearest Halifax branch listed by the bank is at 167 Moorgate. However, Moorgate is not the only branch option within the wider banking group: the branch locator also lists a Lloyds Bank at 210 Commercial Road, and Halifax says customers can use Halifax, Lloyds or Bank of Scotland branches to manage their accounts. The available service at another branch may vary, so customers who need a particular counter service will need to check before travelling.
The loss is especially significant because the Bethnal Green branch is described as the final bank serving two nearby high streets. That matters for people who combine banking with shopping, work or other errands, as well as customers who find digital services difficult to use. The closure does not, by itself, establish how many customers depend on the site or how often they need in-person help; those details have not been made public.
Halifax says it has contacted local representatives, including Bethnal Green and Stepney MP Rushanara Ali, to assess the impact. It also says customers who use the branch as their main way of banking have been contacted directly to discuss alternatives, including online and app-based services. That outreach gives affected account holders a chance to identify what they need before the doors close, but it does not answer whether a new local cash or banking service will be provided.
Cash-access review still to come
A local Access to Cash review has been carried out under the rules that apply when a bank branch closes. Halifax says the review has taken place and that its outcome will be published. The result matters because it will show whether the assessment finds existing cash services adequate or recommends an additional facility for the area.
The review process can lead to a recommendation for a new service where the assessment identifies a gap. LINK says recommended new services should open within 12 weeks if an equivalent facility is not already available, and that a branch should remain open until a replacement service is ready. Those are general safeguards within the process, not confirmation that a new facility has been recommended for Bethnal Green.
For now, the confirmed change is the branch’s planned closure on 22 October. Customers who rely on the counter can check the services available at Commercial Road or Moorgate, ask Halifax what support applies to their accounts, and make any necessary arrangements before the final day. The next concrete development will be the publication of the local review and any decision about additional access to cash. Until then, residents know when the branch is due to shut, but not whether the area will receive a replacement service.
