THE managing director of the retail arm of Bank of Scotland has affirmed it is "absolutely" committed to its mobile banking operations for rural locations and keeping branches which are the last in a town open.
Robin Bulloch, appointed to the role in January this year and with more than three decades of banking experience, says he wants to reclaim the "magic" the brand has had in the past and separate it from the HBOS legacy in the minds of the public.
He indicated Bank of Scotland is keen to present a modern front and use technology to help customers but recognises many of its patrons still prefer to use one of its 294 branches.
He said: "We are absolutely committed to keeping those [seven] vans going and absolutely committed to maintaining a last bank in town.
"While we do want to make sure we keep pace with society, with changes and with technology, there is also a lot of our customers who value the mobile vans we have got and a lot of our branches are still very busy."
That stance is in contrast to Royal Bank of Scotland's incoming chief executive Ross McEwan who said earlier this year he expected around 10% of branches to shut with the closure of the last bank in any town taken on "individual merits".
Mr Bulloch said 50 Bank of Scotland branches were refurbished in 2012, the same number will be done this year and the plan is to upgrade the whole estate in time.
A commitment to put more managers into branches came into effect in July with numbers going from 160 to 240.
The remaining branches which do not have a dedicated manager are understood to be particularly small with just two or three staff at each location.
Even with the additional managers staff numbers in the branch network actually dipped as part of the reshuffle.
The 51-year-old Mr Bulloch said: "In quite a few places we had two or three people doing a management role so it did mean in a number of cases the manager was a wee bit far away from customers and colleagues.
"So I think net the headcount was down by about 100 overall but within that we added 80 new managers.
"Every organisation strives for efficiency and we flattened our management structure a bit."
Mr Bulloch said a move to have more locations open later on Thursdays and Saturdays will offer more "convenience" for customers. However, he conceded it can take several months for changes to filter through into the minds of customers using the bank's services.
He said: "All banks want to be good for service. What I am trying to do is capture some of the magic Bank of Scotland had in the past. We are very committed to giving good service and spend a lot of time monitoring ourselves against competitors.
"Generally customers appreciate convenience and having a manager they can talk to in times of need."
The retail banking sector is bracing itself for a new seven-day current account switching system which is being introduced next month.
That is designed to accelerate switching levels and help newer entrants such as the supermarket banks like Sainsbury's and Tesco as well as challengers likes Virgin Money to attract current account customers from the likes of Lloyds, RBS, Barclays and HSBC.
Mr Bulloch admitted that competition is tough - the Halifax brand is also being re-introduced in Scotland in the coming months with a branch in Aberdeen followed by Edinburgh and Glasgow - but he is confident in staff and services Bank of Scotland is offering.
The brand will not be going south of the border into England and Wales just as there are no plans for the Lloyds brand to move into Scotland.
There is an investment in training being made with the majority of Bank of Scotland managers now studying for an Institute of Financial Services qualification in retail banking conduct.
Mr Bulloch said: "We talk about being friendly, knowledgeable and trustworthy. I think friendly is re-capturing the brand position Bank of Scotland had before HBOS.
"We have a lot of long-serving colleagues who know our customers well. We have an average of 12 years experience in branches and I would like to think we can be seen as a more friendly and approachable bank than others.
"We are also talking about colleagues being knowledgable and I think it is important that customers have confidence in who they are dealing with and [that our people] can fix problems if things go wrong."
Mr Bulloch confirmed a dedicated Bank of Scotland app will launch later this year.
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