The High Street branch shuts on 24 September and LINK has ruled no replacement cash services are needed. What closes, what stays, where to bank.

The Halifax branch at 28/30 Guildford High Street will close permanently on Thursday 24 September. The bank confirms the date on its own branch page, which now carries a closure notice above the opening hours.

The cash access regulator has already looked at Guildford and decided the town needs nothing to replace it. LINK, which runs the assessments the Financial Conduct Authority requires when a branch shuts, published its finding on 10 June 2026: no additional cash services. No banking hub, no new ATM, no deposit machine.

What actually goes

The branch is not a cash point with a desk attached. Halifax lists these services at the High Street site, all of which end on 24 September:

  • counter service
  • a paying-in machine
  • a cash machine on the premises
  • euros and US dollars over the counter
  • travel money collection
  • in-branch digital assistance

It currently opens 9.30am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday, apart from a 10am start on Wednesdays, and 9.30am to 3pm on Saturdays.

The Woking branch at 22/24 Commercial Way goes the day before, on 23 September, under the same LINK assessment round.

The third withdrawal on the register in three years

LINK has published a full record of every cash access assessment it has carried out, and Guildford now appears in it three times.

Timeline of bank withdrawals recorded for Guildford in the LINK cash access register: Virgin Money at 12 North Street closed 14 November 2023, HSBC at 12A North Street recorded a change in service level from 10 December 2025, and Halifax at 28/30 High Street closes 24 September 2026. LINK recommended no additional cash services in all three cases

  • Virgin Money, 12 North Street, closed 14 November 2023. No additional services recommended.
  • HSBC, 12A North Street, recorded as a change in service level from 10 December 2025. No additional services recommended.
  • Halifax, 28/30 High Street, closing 24 September 2026. No additional services recommended.

Three separate assessments of the same town centre, and the same answer each time.

It is worth saying that this is not LINK refusing to act anywhere in the area. In Godalming, the next town south, the NatWest at 77 High Street is due to close on 23 February 2027, and there LINK’s recommendation is a banking hub with an ATM. The register shows the process producing different outcomes for different towns. Guildford’s is that the remaining provision is judged to be enough.

Where Guildford can still bank

The nearest branch of the same group stays open. Lloyds Bank at 147 Guildford High Street, GU1 3AG, has no closure notice on its branch page, and it keeps longer hours than the Halifax it will absorb: 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, with a 10am start on Wednesdays, and 9.30am to 1pm on Saturdays.

That matters more than it usually would, because Halifax customers are becoming Lloyds customers anyway. Halifax says on its own brand change page that “over the coming months, the Halifax brand is changing to Lloyds”, and that account numbers, sort codes, card details, PINs, standing orders and direct debits all stay exactly as they are. Halifax, Lloyds and Bank of Scotland branches can already be used interchangeably to manage an account.

What it means for you

If you use the branch for cash or paying in. Nothing you need to do before 24 September, but plan for after it. The counter and paying-in machine at 28/30 High Street stop on that date. Lloyds at 147 High Street is the closest counter, further up the same street. If you drive in for it, the town-centre charges are on our parking in Guildford page.

If you bank at a Post Office counter. This is the alternative LINK’s decision effectively rests on, and it is worth knowing its limits. Halifax customers can use a Post Office to pay in cash with a debit card, check a balance and withdraw cash. Withdrawals are free but capped at £300 a day, and they count towards the £800 daily cash machine limit. Paying in is capped at £2,995 a month and £20,000 a year. Coins below £1 are only accepted in full bags.

If you want to challenge the decision. LINK’s assessments are not one-off. Anyone in a community can ask LINK to look again at cash access in their area through its request access to cash form, and it publishes the outcome either way. If Guildford’s town-centre cash provision does not hold up after September, that is the route to a review rather than a complaint to the bank.

One thing we could not confirm. Halifax lists a cash machine at the branch, and a separate 24-hour cash machine at the same address. Neither Halifax’s page nor the LINK register states whether that machine survives the branch closing, and we will update this page when it does.

Sources