RBS branch avoids axe

BANK customers in East Renfrewshire have been spared in the latest cull of branches announced by one of the industry’s leading firms.

Bosses at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) issued a statement last week to confirm they plan to close 18 of its 86 remaining branches across the country, with the loss of 105 jobs.

However, the only

RBS branch left in East Renfrewshire, based in Fenwick Road, Giffnock, has escaped the axe.

The closures will leave just 69 RBS branches in Scotland, with the company – now branded under the NatWest Group – saying the further reduction is due to declining use by customers.

It has also promised there will be no further closures before 2026.

In a statement, RBS said customers are using digital banking “more than ever before,” with four-fifths of current account holders using digital services.

The firm added that it was responding to an “industrywide shift” to online services.

A RBS spokesperson said: “While we are increasingly engaging our customers digitally, our branch network remains important to us.

“We are also significantly investing in refreshing our network. We are investing £10.5million in our network across Scotland, from 2023/24, as well as continuing to invest in shared solutions like the Post Office and banking hubs.”

As of December, there were only 404 bank branches left in Scotland, with 636 banks and building societies closing since 2015 – more than 60 per cent in just nine years.

Esther O’Hara, industrial officer at the Unite trade union, described the latest RBS closures as “another massive blow” to the communities it serves.

She said: “We fear this latest announcement is just another stage in the phasing out of banks from our nation’s streets in the race to make all banking operations digital, which is not suitable or accessible for many customers.”