Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has confirmed plans to close a fifth of its bank branches across the UK.
The financial institution, which is now part of NatWest Group, will shut down 18 of its 86 branches in Scotland with 105 jobs at risk.
In a statement, the NatWest-owned bank confirmed it would prioritise digital banking services going forward as part of this “network refresh” as it becomes the latest high street financial institution to opt for more bank branch closures.
An 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.
"Our customers appreciate the speed and convenience of digital banking for everyday transactions, and often, when it comes to making bigger, more complex decisions they value speaking to our skilled and experienced colleagues."
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Royal Bank of Scotland to close multiple branches
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Here is a full list of the Royal Bank of Scotland branches that are reportedly earmarked for closure:
- Aberdeen St. Nicholas
- Bathgate
- Cumbernauld Tay Walk
- Dundee Kingsway Circus
- East Kilbride
- Edinburgh Bruntsfield
- Edinburgh Leith
- Edinburgh Nicolson Street
- Glasgow Cardonald
- Glasgow Charing Cross West
- Glasgow Rutherglen West
- Helensburgh
- Inverness Chief Office
- Inverness Eastgate
- Largs
- New Deer
- Newbridge
- Wishaw
According to the NatWest-owned bank, the decision to close these branches is due a declining number of customers.
Royal Bank's spokesperson cited hat more than 97 per cent of the financial institution's retail accounts are opened by customers online.
Currently, RBS hires around 10,000 people across Scotland.
This announcement by the bank comes amid a wave of branch closures from the likes of NatWest and Barclays.
Esther O'Hara, Unite industrial officer, described RBS's decision to slash its branches by a fifth as "another massive blow" to communities and workers.
She explained: "Many of these banks are situated in rural and remote communities where RBS customers rely on this vital service.
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Bank branch closures are continuing at an 'alarming rate', according to Which?GETTY "The proposed closures come off the back of RBS closures elsewhere in the UK and 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."
"The proposals raise fears for over 100 jobs and Unite's objective is to ensure that there are no compulsory redundancies. The Natwest Group, which owns RBS, is an extremely profitable bank with its latest pre-tax profits rising by 20 per cent to £6.2bn last year.
"It remains a bank which the taxpayer still owns by around 35 per cent, yet there is very little return for the public and no regard for the workforce and the customers the bank is supposed to serve."
According to consumer champions Which?, around three million Britons are risk of being left without a bank branch in their local community.