MPs have raised protests that a survey of bank use during the Covid lockdown has been used to justify the closing of 19 Bank of Scotland branches.
Lloyds Banking Group, which owns Bank of Scotland, has revealed plans to shut 60 branches across the UK as customers choose to sort their finances online.
The Scottish branches to shut include the 'last bank in the town' of Forres.
The lending giant said it would also close 24 Lloyds branches and 17 Halifax sites.
The branches are thought to employ 124 people, but Lloyds said it would try to find affected staff new roles within the company.
The 19 Bank of Scotland branches to shut are in Aberdeen, Alness, Brechin, Broxburn, Carluke, Clarkston, Dunblane, Dyce, Edinburgh Barnton, Edinburgh Shandwick, Forres, Glasgow Riddrie, Innerleither, Kirkcudbright, Lockerbie, Selkirk, Shotts, Stromness and Troon. They are proposed to shut between June and September of this year.
New banking hubs, first trialled in Scotland, have been recommended in the towns of Buckingham, Cottingham, and Troon, organised by leading cash machine firm LINK.
The new hope for high-street banking, funded by the banking industry comes in the form of a five-banks-in-one branch hosted by the Post Office.
The schemes fronted by Community Access to Cash Pilots Board chairman Natalie Ceeney offer access to basic banking and cash withdrawals and deposits through a counter operated by the Post Office, which will support the customers of all major retail banks.
Clarkston Bank of Scotland is for the chop.
Lloyds Banking Group said it had seen a 27% rise in use of its mobile banking app over the last two years, and a 12% rise in regular users of its online banking system.
Angela Crawley, the SNP MP for Lanark & Hamilton East is amongst those who have raised their concerns that analysis of bank use during the Covid lockdown was used to justify the decision.
She said: "Bank of Scotland have announced their intention to close their Carluke branch in June.
"I am disappointed that they have used customer data from during the Covid-19 pandemic to justify their decision as the country was locked down and people could not access their bank.
"I would urge them to reconsider their decision and will work to try and find a positive outcome."
SNP East Renfrewshire MP Kirsten Oswald raised concerns about closing the Clarkston branch.
"Bank closures are a huge problem for our local communities and the suggested alternatives which include using a branch in a different town do not make any sense. Particularly concerning for the elderly, less mobile and business and community groups who rely on local banking facilities," she said.
"I will be seeking an urgent meeting with the bank to hear more from them and so they can hear more from me about why they need to reconsider this poor decision."
SNP Moray MP Richard Lochhead said he was "shocked" by the decision to shut the Forres branch and was seeking a meeting with Bank of Scotland to abandon the plans.
He said: "The closure of the last bank in the town is devastating for Forres and will leave many people without access to much needed services.
"It seems the rules in place to ensure communities have access to cash aren't worth much if banks are allowed to go ahead and close the last bank in a town.
"The UK government has made promises to legislate to ensure access to cash but aren't treating this issue with the urgency that is needed."
“Just like many other high street businesses, fewer customers are choosing to visit our branches,” the Lloyds Banking Group's retail director Vim Maru said.
“Our branch network is an important way for us to support our customers, but we need to adapt to the significant growth in customers choosing to do most of their everyday banking online.”
The news follows several other closures from the bank, which said in October it could close 48 sites, and announced 44 closures in June last year.
The bank said that customers were continuing to choose online and mobile banking more frequently than using a branch.
The group currently has 739 Lloyds branches, 553 Halifax branches and 184 Bank of Scotland sites.
Caren Evans, national officer for the union Unite, said: “Lloyds Banking Group must not be allowed to abandon 60 more local communities where bank branches play an essential role.
“The 124 employees who work tirelessly in their communities are dedicated to serving the banking needs of the most vulnerable who depend on their skilled services.
“When a bank branch closes, the heart of the local community is ripped out and the results are devastating. Unite is clear that simply leaving an ATM in place of a vibrant bank branch is wholly insufficient.
“The banking sector needs to answer some serious questions about its corporate social responsibilities and the Government cannot stand back and allow the relentless closure of banks to continue until no more local banking services remain.”
These are the Scottish bank branches that are set to shut and the dates they are scheduled to close
Aberdeen 201 Union Street – September 14
Alness – July 27
Brechin – August 2
Broxburn – August 9
Carluke – June 27
Clarkston – July 4
Dunblane – July 7
Dyce – July 5
Edinburgh Barnton – July 13
Edinburgh Shandwick – July 13
Forres – July 11
Glasgow Riddrie – August 9
Innerleithen – August 4
Kirkcudbright – August 3
Lockerbie – August 8
Selkirk – August 8
Shotts – August 15
Stromness – August 17
Troon – September 21
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel