Royal Bank of Scotland to close a fifth of its branches – including three in Glasgow
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.”