Now island is to lose its RBS mobile bank ... as it won’t f it on the ferry
ROYAL Bank of Scotland is suspending its mobile branch service to a Scots island – claiming the van will not fit on the ferry.
Bosses will put the brakes on the ‘bank on wheels’ from Monday.
RBS also cited ‘hostility’ to its staff as a reason to temporarily pull the mobile branch from Barra, in the Outer Hebrides.
The island’s only RBS branch, in Castlebay, has been granted a reprieve from closure until the end of the year, but the bank has also been sending the van service.
Residents have been critical of the mobile unit but may soon have no choice but to use it if the plans to close the sole branch go ahead.
An RBS spokesman said: ‘In the meantime, due to factors including low use, ferry capacity and a degree of hostility our staff have faced on a small number of occasions, we are suspending the service from the week commencing July 2 until the review is complete.
‘Colleagues will be informing customers over the coming days while the mobile branch is still running.’
The van, which makes two stops at Castlebay and Northbay, has proved unpopular with customers, who preferred to do their business in a retail branch.
Guy Adams, 70, owner of the Isle of Barra Beach Hotel, believes the transition to mobile banking could hurt his business.
He said: ‘It’s a nonsense. If a bank is owned by the taxpayer then it must have responsibility for communities. Barra’s economy relies on tourism. We see many Dutch and German holidaymakers who pay in £50 notes so we are always dealing in change.
‘If we lose our branch then it will make life extremely difficult.
‘When I need coins I need them now – not when the van next comes across. This is assuming that the van can fit on the ferry, or even that the ferry itself is running.’
A decision on the bank’s fate is due to be reached in September by accountant Johnston Carmichael, which is charged with deciding the fate of ten beleaguered branches.
It will assess all other possible ways to bank before making its decision. Chief executive Sandy Manson said: ‘As part of our review we will engage with local communities to gather as many views as possible, and will hold consultations with community groups in areas affected in the near future.
‘We will consider these alongside the data from those branches in preparing our final report.’
RBS is still majority-owned by taxpayers after it was bailed out during the 2008 financial crash.
It has come under fire after it announced a cull of a further 62 branches in Scotland last year.
Western Isles MSP Aladair Allan said that islanders have been kept in the dark about why the mobile service was introduced so early.
He claims it was a ‘cynical move’ by RBS to show ‘this is what people in Barra would be getting whether they liked it or not’.
He said: ‘Barra is extremely popular at this time of year and it is deeply concerning that RBS are proposing to replace the branch with a service that seems completely unreliable in the summer.
‘Any independent review must recognise the necessity of keeping Barra’s only bank open.’
Earlier this month cafe owner Mike Haggerton, of Aberfeldy, Perthshire, had to start insisting customers pay by card after an RBS branch closure left him facing a 60mile round trip to Perth to deposit cash. He said he was left with no other option to continue trading.
‘Will make life very difficult’