THE Royal Bank of Scotland has announced that it will be closing a fifth of its branches, putting more than 100 jobs at risk.
The bank, which is owned by NatWest, said that a rise in the use of digital services was behind the move.
A spokesperson for the bank said that it was committed to supporting those affected through what it described as "exceptionally difficult times”.
It added that redundancies would be done on a voluntary basis and that there would be no further closures until 2026.
The spokesperson told STV News: “Our customers are using digital banking more than ever before – over 80% of our active current account holders now use our digital services and over 97% of retail accounts with us are now opened online.
“While we are increasingly engaging our customers digitally, our branch network remains important to us. We commit to no further review of our Royal Bank of Scotland branch network until at least 2026.”
See the full list of Royal Bank of Scotland branches set to close
Here is the full list of Royal Bank of Scotland branch closures set to take place ahead of September.
- 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
The bank said that its digital services had allowed for the overwhelming majority of customers and clients, including the elderly, to access services.
However, it added: “But we know that a small number of people are not yet comfortable with it, which is why we are proactively reaching out to support them with this transition, having made over 200,000 calls last year. We also have experts that they can speak to for support and guidance.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel