RBS slammed over branch closure plan
MORE than 5,250 people have signed a petition urging the Royal Bank of Scotland to reverse its decision to close the only bank on Barra.
This comes as RBS announced it would be shutting 259 branches between May and June of next year, including Inveraray, Campbeltown, Rothesay and Castlebay on Barra. RBS has said it will keep the ATM on Barra, but the branch will still close in the summer.
This concession has been welcomed, but the decision to close the only bank on the island has been condemned.
The trade union Unite Scotland labelled the closures as ‘morally bankrupt’.
Western Isles MP Angus Brendan MacNeil said: ‘From the correspondence that RBS has sent me, it had suggested that a local alternative ATM could be in Portree, Tobermory or indeed Oban.
‘That is the equivalent of telling the people of Dover that they can go to Paris to access a cash machine.
‘[RBS] informs me that only 11 people per week use the branch in Castlebay. However, I can confirm that this is utterly untrue, as this morning alone, sources in Castlebay, keeping an eye on the bank door, tell me that they have seen 20 people going into the branch, mostly local businesses.’
Argyll and Bute MSP Michael Russell also criticised the news about closing branches in the area. He has written to the bank’s chief executive asking him to reconsider.
‘Both Rothesay and Campbeltown have a large number of faithful Royal Bank customers who are being treated shabbily,’ said Mr Russell.
‘I am particularly concerned about the impact on the farming sector given that the Royal Bank has been a key player in the local agricultural scene for a long time. These two closures should not happen but at least there are some banking alternatives in both places. There are none in Inveraray and the town will be severely affected by the loss of its last high street bank. ‘Access to ATM facilities will cease and the ludicrous offer by RBS of a “community banker” without an office or cash adds insult to injury.’
Once closed, the closest bank to Inveraray would be Oban, which is 37 miles away.
In a letter to the minister for business, innovation and energy, a spokesperson for Unite Scotland said: ‘The directors of RBS made a pledge that they would never close one of their branches when it was “the last bank in town”.
‘The plans are not actually about inefficient, under-used services for the most part. They are about money, and making more of it for RBS shareholders. We actually believe RBS is morally bankrupt.’