Four Lanarkshire RBS branches set to close as bank to shut a fifth of branches

Four RBS branches in Lanarkshire are set to shut after the bank announced the closure of one in five of its branches.

RBS confirmed that 105 people would be impacted by the closures as 18 of its 86 local branches across the country shut within months.

The four Lanarkshire branches under threat are those in Cumbernauld Tay Walk, East Kilbride, Wishaw and Rutherglen.

The Bank, owned by NatWest – a third of which is publicly owned, pointed to the rise of digital services, saying 80 per cent of its active current account holders now bank online and more than 97% of its retail accounts are opened over the internet.

A spokesperson for the Bank told STV News that RBS was committed to supporting those affected in what were described as “exceptionally difficult times”.

“Our customers are using digital banking more than ever before – over 80 per cent of our active current account holders now use our digital services and over 97 per cent of retail accounts with us are now opened online,” a spokesperson said.

“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.”

The Bank said redundancies would be done on a voluntary basis where possible but otherwise it would seek to support those who lose their jobs.

Esther O’Hara, Unite industrial officer 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.

“It remains a bank which the taxpayer still owns by around 35 per cent yet there is a very little return for the public and no regard for the workforce and the customers the bank is supposed to serve.”

RBS said it is investing around £10.5m in its network across Scotland as well as continuing to invest in “shared solutions” like the Post Office and banking hubs.

Rutherglen & Hamilton West MP Michael Shanks said: “The Royal Bank of Scotland is proposing to close their only branch in the Rutherglen constituency which will leave thousands of customers - many without transport to get to a different branch - unable to carry out their banking.

"This decision should be reversed.”

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