The pace of retail bank branch closures in the UK is accelerating, according to news service Finextra, citing figures released by the Campaign for Community Banking. The UK has lost a quarter of its retail bank branches over the past ten years, with 500 shuttered in 2014 (more than double the 222 abandoned in 2013) and 650 branches earmarked for closure this year. By the end of the year there will be only 8400 retail bank branches in the UK, says the CCB, which leaves the UK with 145 branches per million inhabitants, compared to France with 410 per million, Italy with 500 per million, and Germany with 430 per million. Analysis by US industry body, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, shows that new business volumes in its home market increased by 6.7 per cent in 2014, to US$118 billion. The rate of growth was lower than in recent years, but well ahead of the US national GDP growth rate. Independent lessors experienced strongest growth in 2014, followed by banks, whilst captive businesses saw weak growth. The greatest NBV growth by market segment was for small-ticket business, with middle-ticket also growing strongly; however, the large-ticket segment experienced a decline in volume.