BARCLAYS will close its Aberystwyth and Cardigan branches in the spring, with customers advised to travel to Carmarthen or Swansea to do their banking.

Bank bosses said that visits to the branches had fallen significantly with Barclays claiming the Aberystwyth branch had less than 10 regular customers who use the branch 'exclusively for banking and not interact with us in other ways', with Cardigan having 34.

Customers from Aberystwyth now face a 100 mile round trip to Carmarthen to visit the bank, or 150 mile round trip to Swansea.

Barclays are also closing two other branches in west Wales with the Llanelli branch closing on 22 February and Haverfordwest on 10 May.

Confirming the closures, a Barclays spokesperson said: “As visits to branches continue to fall, with the majority of people preferring to bank online, we need to adapt to provide the best service for all our customers. This is reflected at Aberystwyth and Cardigan, where we are delivering new ways to support our customers and the community with options for those who need in-person services.”

“In Aberystwyth and Cardigan we plan to open a Barclays Local – a cashless banking site where customers can meet a colleague face-to-face for banking support, as they would in a branch and without the need to travel. We are currently working with the local community to identify a suitable location and will announce details once confirmed.”

The Aberystwyth branch at 26 Terrace Road will close on 3 May 2024 with the Cardigan branch at 32 High Street closing on 26 April 2024.

It is unclear whether the ATM will remain, with Barclays suggesting people use the nearest free-to-use ATM at the WH Smiths in Aberystwyth and at 11 High Street in Cardigan.

Barclays adds that it will be 'proactively engaging with local businesses and the wider community to discuss the alternative ways customers will be able to undertake their banking locally and offering virtual support sessions.

In recent years, Barclays has closed branches in Aberaeron, Lampeter, Dolgellau and Machynlleth.

Reacting to the news, Ceredigion MS, Elin Jones, said: “It’s a major blow that Barclays is pulling out of Aberystwyth and Cardigan.

"Soon there’ll be no banks left in Ceredigion, or even Wales.

"Banks are treating their customers badly by withdrawing completely from the high streets and abandoning town centre landmark buildings that they have occupied for decades.

"Jobs are lost too from our rural towns to faceless call centres and bots.

"The UK government has done nothing to prevent this change and people and businesses will find it harder to access services from now on, especially the elderly.”

Ben Lake, MP, added: "This decision is incredibly disappointing as it leaves Ceredigion without a single Barclays branch. Many of the county's towns are already without any bank branches, and so it is alarming that branches are being closed in Ceredigion's largest two towns. Barclays notified us of their decision today (25 January), and I have requested that Barclays executives meet with us at the earliest opportunity to explain this decision.

“This latest decision reinforces my belief that banking hubs should be established in rural areas such as Ceredigion so that access to physical banking advice and services is retained.

"It is a concept that I have been championing since I introducing Ten Minute Rule Bill in Parliament back in 2018 calling on the UK Government to make provision for community banking hubs.

"Such hubs, whereby different banks agree to co-locate services in a single building is one that commands widespread support, and although I welcome the efforts so far to establish banking hubs across the UK, the pace at which the roll out is taking place needs to accelerate so that areas in Ceredigion can benefit."