South Scotland MSP Brian Whittle has hit out at Royal Bank of Scotland following its announcement of plans to close another 30 branches in Scotland including in Troon, Prestwick, Mauchline, Girvan and Cumnock.
Brian has lodged a stinging motion in the Scottish Parliament criticising the bank for their decision and questioning the bank’s argument that the branches were no longer needed as more people use online and telephone banking. The MSP also highlighted that the move was likely to disproportionally affect older people and people with disabilities who are often less able to travel to more distant branches.
Comment from Brian Whittle MSP
“I’m hugely disappointed by Royal Bank of Scotland’s decision to close these branches. How can RBS justify saying that because some of their customers are choosing to use digital banking, the ones who don’t should be seriously disadvantaged?
For many of the bank’s customers in places like Cumnock and Girvan, particularly those who rely on public transport, getting to another branch isn’t a simple or quick matter. This decision puts people who aren’t comfortable with digital banking or who, for whatever reason, can’t access it, at a real disadvantage. RBS has a responsibility to provide an accessible service to all of its customers and these branch closures will compromise that. I have real concerns that these closures are driven by a need to cut costs rather than any interest in providing a better service for RBS customers.
I’ll be writing to Royal Bank of Scotland to take this matter further.”
Full text of Brian Whittle MSP’s motion in the Scottish Parliament –
Motion S5M-04886: Royal Bank of Scotland Branch Closures in South Scotland
That the Parliament expresses its concern at the reported decision by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to close a further 30 branches in Scotland, including those in Cumnock, Mauchline and Girvan; understands that the bank’s justification for these closures is statistics that indicate an increase in the number of customers using digital banking services; believes that RBS’s IT infrastructure is widely recognised to have been the cause of a number of significant issues in recent years; considers that RBS has a duty to provide equality of service for all its customers, regardless of how they choose to interact with the bank; further considers that closing these branches would be potentially discriminatory against people who, for whatever reason, do not use digital banking; believes that this group of customers is likely to include large numbers of older people and others for whom travel to a more distant branch represents a barrier to access, and notes the calls on RBS to immediately halt these proposed closures and reflect on whether they are justifiable from a company whose motto is "We are the Royal Bank for Scotland".