Two flagship Royal Bank of Scotland branches in the north of Scotland are set to close.
Aberdeen’s St Nicholas Street and Inverness’s Eastgate shopping centre locations have been earmarked for closure by the Natwest Group.
The bank in New Deer will also shut, as well as the Inverness chief office on Harbour Road.
On the bank’s website, the closing date for the St Nicholas branch has been confirmed as October 9 while the New Deer site will shut on September 26.
No closing dates are provided for the Inverness branches, and it’s understood plans are afoot for a £2.5 million new flagship branch in the Eastgate Shopping Centre at Falcon Square.
‘More customers banking online than ever’
More than 100 jobs across the country are now at risk with 18 of 86 local branches closing.
An RBS spokesperson said they would be supporting those who are affected by the closures.
They also explained that people’s banking habits are changing, with 80% of active current account holders now banking online and more than 97% of retail accounts opened over the internet.
“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,” the 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.
“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.”
RBS closure provides further blow to Aberdeen’s Union Street
News of the closures will come as bad news to those concerned with the health of the Granite Mile in particular.
RBS currently occupies a large pillared building on the corner of St Nicholas Street at Union Street.
Today’s RBS announcement follows the departure of Marks and Spencer which is moving to a bigger Union Square location next year.
Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, said the closure of the St Nicholas Street branch feels like another death knell for the city-centre.
He said: “Just months after the shutters went down on the Union Street Halifax branch, this is the latest in a grim litany of closures for Aberdeen.
“Footfall is again cited by RBS as a reason for getting rid of St Nicholas. But closing branches won’t entice people to use facilities any more in the city centre.
“I’m very sorry for the 100 employees who could soon be facing redundancy, and I am seeking assurances from RBS that the bank will redeploy as many of them as possible — bolstering other local branches instead of letting services slip further.”
‘New Deer closure will leave rural residents behind’
Meanwhile, Scottish Conservative candidate for Gordon and Buchan, Harriet Cross, said the closure of the RBS in New Deer is a “hammer blow” to the community who now face travelling to Peterhead or Inverurie for their nearest branch.
“I have spoken to several businesses, particularly in sectors such as farming, who regularly rely on these services,” she said.
“Banks are supposed to carry out a full community impact assessment when considering a closure.
“I will be contacting RBS to ascertain whether this has been done and what measures are in place to help customers, particularly the most vulnerable in the village.
“It’s completely unacceptable for banks such as RBS to leave rural residents in places like New Deer behind.
“No matter the percentages involved, this terrible decision will provide little comfort to customers, local businesses, charities and other community groups who depend on access to personal banking.”
‘Phasing out banks from our nation’s streets’
Unite the union has also responded to the news, saying the closures are “another massive blow to the loyal workforce and the communities the bank serve.”
Esther O’Hara, Unite industrial officer, said: “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% 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.”
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