RBS TO AXE A THIRD OF ITS BANKS
Bailed-out giant quits the High St – and leaves thousands without local branch
RBS was yesterday accused of ‘deserting’ customers by closing more than one in three Scottish branches.
Bosses at the state-backed bank said 62 high street sites – mostly in rural areas or small towns – will shut next year.
Almost 160 staff were told they would lose their jobs between May and June 2018, with the news delivered only three weeks before Christmas.
In many locations the Royal Bank of Scotland is the last bank in town and closure will leave the elderly and vulnerable marooned without vital services. Some customers will
have to travel 40 miles or pay for a ferry journey to reach their nearest bank.
In the wake of the announcement, the Scottish Government called on the UK Government to ‘establish and enforce’ a guaranteed minimum level of service provision for essential banking services.
Meanwhile, Scottish Secretary David Mundell is demanding talks with RBS leaders. He said: ‘I am very disappointed to hear of the plans by the Royal Bank of Scotland to close so many of their branches across Scotland.
‘This is a serious issue for the communities they serve. While usage of branches may have dropped, they are still a lifeline for many people, especially in rural areas.’
MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch Kate Forbes has accused RBS of ‘deserting the Highlands’ after news that branches in Aviemore, Beauly, Kyle of Lochalsh and Mallaig will all shut.
She said the move leaves some constituents more than 40 miles from their nearest facility, adding: ‘It is not just exceptionally poor service for loyal customers who have been with that bank sometimes for decades. It is a dereliction of responsibility.’
Business minister Paul Wheelhouse urged the UK Government to defend customers and take steps to ensure communities have access to day to day banking services.
UK-wide, Edinburgh-based RBS – which was bailed out with £45billion of taxpayers’ cash in
‘Dereliction of responsibility’
2008 – is cutting 259 locations, a quarter of all branches, and putting the jobs of 680 workers in the firing line.
A total of 89 branches will remain open in Scotland.
RBS says mobile and online services have led to fewer customers in branches. It has tried to promote local Post Offices as stand-ins and told customers to switch to online or telephone banking.
But rural homes across Scotland suffer from slow broadband and poor mobile signals, while Post Office owners say they can only offer limited services.
Business leaders have voiced fears the move will dent small businesses and tourist ventures still dealing in cash.
Customers and staff are up in arms. Elaine Bowman, 48, from Keith, Banffshire, said she has already been forced to make a 20-mile round trip to Huntly, following the closure of the local branch last year.
She said: ‘The amount of money that they’re making, they should be cutting back on high wages and keeping the branches open.’
Customers in Duns, Berwick- shire, will face travelling to England for meetings with bank staff. The nearest RBS branch will be a 30-mile round trip to Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Melrose, in Roxburghshire, will also be left with no bank, with Galashiels four miles away being touted as the alternative.
Unions have also accused the bank – where directors earned £8.3million last year – of devastating communities.
Union Unite Scotland has branded the move ‘institutional financial vandalism’ and called on the Scottish Government to intervene to prevent a ‘community and jobs catastrophe’.
One employee at a Lanarkshire branch of the bank who asked not to be named said: ‘There has been no talk of us being moved somewhere else so it looks as though we will all be out of a job. It’s absolutely devastating.’
The Federation of Small Businesses’ Scottish convener Andy Willox said the news was ‘bitterly disappointing’. He added: ‘Ultimately, these changes will make it more difficult to run a business in much of Scotland.
In a letter to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay, Mr Wheelhouse said: ‘I call on the UK Government to establish and enforce a guaranteed minimum level of service provision for essential banking services, recognising the importance of continued access to banking for communities across Scotland, and across the UK.’
On the closures – which will also see 197 NatWest branches run by RBS in England and Wales shut – a bank spokesman said: ‘We’re investing and providing our customers with more ways to bank than ever before – they can choose from a range of digital to face-to-face options.
‘We realise this is difficult news for our colleagues and are doing everything we can to support those affected. We will ensure compulsory redundancies are kept to an absolute minimum.’ Death of the ATM – Page 16
Comment – Page 18