THE Barclays Bank branches in Lisburn and Portadown are among 15 more UK sites the high street financial services giant has earmarked for closure in the coming weeks.
The Lisburn office at 61 Bow Street will close it doors for the last time on July 21 while the Portadown branch at 3 High Street will shut a week later.
They add to the loss of hundreds of branches across the banking sector in 2023, including 73 by Barclays alone.
The banking industry has pointed to data showing that fewer people are using their branches to justify an increasing number of closures during recent years.
The pandemic also accelerated changes in how customers used banking services, with many learning for the first time how to bank from home.
But critics say some of the more vulnerable members of society - especially those in older age groups who are less confident on the internet - will be left without access to services they understand.
With the latest closure announcement from Barclays, high street branches have set out plans to shut 228 sites since the start of this year.
Barclays said: "As visits to branches continue to fall, we need to adapt to provide the best service for all our customers.
"Where there is no longer enough demand to support a branch, we maintain an in-person presence though our Barclays Local network, live in over 200 locations, based in libraries, town halls, mobile vans and our new banking pods.
"We also support access to cash with our cashback without purchase service, 24-hour deposit-taking ATMs and by working alongside the Post Office and Cash Access UK."
