RBS is closing 162 branches resulting in 800 job losses as more customers opt for mobile banking
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is closing 162 branches and cutting nearly 800 jobs after a review of its network in England and Wales, noting that an increasing number of customers were using branches less often and using mobile banking.
It said the branch closures will result in 792 roles being made redundant and RBS will ensure compulsory redundancies are “kept to an absolute minimum”.
Of the closures, 109 branches will shut in late July and August 2018, which are within 0.6 miles of another RBS or NatWest branch, and another 53 will close in November. The latter are between 0.6 miles and 2.5 miles of another branch, according to the bank.
RBS said there will be no changes to the NatWest retail banking business in Scotland.
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The lender said that it was originally going to launch a challenger bank under the Williams & Glyn brand name, and with that divestment no longer going ahead, the business and its branch network, are being brought back into the core bank.
Nicky Morgan, chair of Parliament’s influential Treasury Select Committee, said: “As a result of RBS’s decision, there is a risk of increased levels of financial exclusion.
“If financial exclusion is increasing, the Government may be required to intervene.”
A spokesperson for the bank said:
We are no longer launching Williams & Glyn as a challenger bank, and we now have two branch networks operating in close proximity to each other; NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland, in England & Wales.
As a result we have had to review our overall branch footprint in England and Wales and we’ve made the difficult decision to close a number of Royal Bank of Scotland branches. Customers of Royal Bank of Scotland in England & Wales will be able to use NatWest branches instead for their everyday banking needs.
Furthermore, the way customers bank with us has changed radically over the last few years. Since 2014, branch transactions across Royal Bank of Scotland in England & Wales are down 30 per cent. During this same period, there has been a 53 per cent increase in the number of customers using mobile banking and mobile transactions have increased by 74 per cent. We now provide our customers with more ways to bank with us than ever before – customers can choose from a range of digital, face-to-face and local options to suit their needs.
RBS added that it also was aware not all customers were comfortable or familiar with using online and mobile banking, so it has created a taskforce of “TechXperts” to support customers with training and support with digital skills.
Unite union, however, said the announcement represented a demolition of the bank’s customer service responsibilities.
Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, said: “The Williams and Glyn saga rolls on as Royal Bank of Scotland continues with its shambolically poor management of this business. How does a taxpayer-funded institution spend £1.8bn on a failed IT project and in the next breath demolish the much needed local bank branches?”
He added:
The reality is that as a result of these planned closures the overwhelming majority of customers will find themselves without access to full banking facilities and in the most extreme examples some will find themselves having to make a round trip of circa 130 miles.
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