Santander has promised to keep all of its branches open for at least two years, including those of TSB which it took over in April. 

The Spanish lender’s UK boss said the bank does not plan on closing any additional Santander or TSB branches before 2028.

The announcement follows widespread praise last year for Nationwide Building Society's pledge to keep all branches open until 2030. 

Mahesh Aditya, chief executive of Santander UK said: ‘As we integrate TSB with Santander UK, our ambition for customers is to combine leading digital services with the personal support they value’.

He added: ‘I see branches as an important part of our strategy and do not intend to close any additional Santander or TSB branches before 2028 at the earliest’.

However, there are still fears that the £2.65billion acquisition, which completed on 30 April, will see the TSB brand axed from the high street as the combined business will eventually be run under the name Santander UK.

Ministers have criticised the mass closure of bank branches, arguing it restricts access to cash for elderly and vulnerable people, while banks say customers are using digital services with less need for a physical network.

There have been 6,871 closures of bank and building society branches since January 2015, according to analysis by Which?

Lloyds Banking Group – which includes Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland – has closed 1,611 branches, the most of any banking group.

Santander has shut 612 branches, 41 of which have come this year, with plans to close in Whitehaven, Wilmslow and Leighton Buzzard by the end of January 2027.

Santander said it had welcomed 12 million new customers in the six months to the end of June - 4 million of which came from the TSB takeover.

But higher restructuring costs relating to the deal also weighed on its profits, after taking a £213million charge linked to the integration of TSB.

Half-year profits slumped by almost a third after Santander also took a hit on the motor finance scandal and booking bad debt.

The lender reported a 31 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to £528million for the six months to 30 June, as it set aside £179million to cover costs of the car finance misselling scandal.

It also said bad debt charges rose by £173million due to a worsening economic outlook in 2026 amid the Iran war fallout, and the TSB takeover adding an extra £62million of credit impairment.