MSP calls for bank rethink

Motion against RBS closure

Alex Neil has lodged a motion at the Scottish Parliament calling on Royal Bank of Scotland to reverse its plans to close the Airdrie branch.

The MSP condemned plans to close the Graham Street branch, which is due to shut its doors on May 24.

His Holyrood motion “notes with concern” the 62 branch closures across Scotland and says “these will disproportionately affect people with limited knowledge of, or access to, online banking”.

It also “maintains that RBS has a responsibility to provide face- to- face customer service; and asks RBS to reconsider its cost-saving strategy to better reflect the needs of Scotland’s people and businesses”.

Airdrie & Shotts representative Mr Neil said: “Neil Gray MP and I are pressing RBS to revisit this decision and will do all we can to get them to change their position on this.

“We’re seeking an urgent meeting with senior management to try to persuade them to keep the Airdrie branch open.”

The motion has so far been supported by 10 MSPs, including neighbouring MSP Fulton MacGregor; who will also see the Stepps branch close in his Coatbridge & Chryston constituency.

RBS announced earlier this month that they had taken the “difficult decision” to close the Airdrie branch after transactions reduced by a third in the past five years, saying: “Only 129 customers now visit the branch on a weekly basis.”

A spokesperson told the Advertiser: “Ninety per cent of [ Airdrie branch] customers already bank in other ways locally; and 55 per cent of customers are now choosing to bank digitally with us on a regular basis instead.

“We are communicating with our customers affected by the closure and proactively contacting vulnerable customers and regular branch users.

“We have extended the time between announcing our decision and the branch closure to six months so we can ensure our customers have enough time to consider the right banking options for them, and to support them one- to- one during the transition.”

The spokesperson added: “We know that not all of our customers are comfortable or familiar with using online or mobile banking.

“We have created a new specialist taskforce of ‘ TechXperts’ who will be dedicated to supporting our customers with training and support with digital skills until the Airdrie branch closes.”

RBS has not confirmed how many staff will be affected by the closure of the Airdrie branch.

The group’s UK-wide closure programme, affecting a total of 259 NatWest and RBS branches, is expected to result in around 680 redundancies.

We are pressing RBS to revisit this decision