RBS to close one in four branches as smartphone transactions rise 73%

Royal Bank of Scotland has begun the process of closing 259 branches and making an associated 680 job cuts, the latest in a swathe of closures across the sector in this week alone.

The 71% taxpayer-owned bank said the closure of 62 RBS and 197 NatWest branches out of its 1,003 total was due to more customers choosing to bank online or on mobile.

Since 2014 RBS has seen branch customer numbers fall 40%, while mobile transactions have risen by 73% over the same period.

RBS is the third this week to announce branch closures and job cuts, following Lloyds and Yorkshire Building Society, and unions and politicians expressed concerns about the loss of jobs and rural services.

Scottish secretary David Mundell said he was seeking an urgent meeting with the Edinburgh-based bank to discuss the impact in Scotland, describing branches in rural areas as "a lifeline for many people".

"Over 5m customers now use our mobile banking app and one in five only bank with us digitally," an RBS spokesperson said.

"We’re providing our customers with more ways to bank than ever before – they can choose from a range of digital, to face-to-face options. As customers continue to change the way they bank with us, we must change the way we serve them, so we are investing in our more popular branches and shaping our network."

To help customers who are not comfortable or familiar with using online or mobile banking, RBS stressed that it has invested in training a new "specialist taskforce of TechXperts" dedicated to helping "training" customers and providing digital support, with at leastone TechXpert in every branch across the UK.

Last month it was revealed that Chancellor Philip Hammond is preparing to re-privatise RBS by selling £15bn worth of shares the government picked up when bailing out the lender nearly a decade ago.

'THOUSAND JOB LOSSES', UNION SAYS

Rob MacGregor of the Unite trade union said more than a thousand jobs would be lost and bemoaned that a bank majority owned by the taxpayer was denying thousands of taxpayers access to local banking.

"This announcement will forever change the face of banking in this country resulting in over a thousand staff losing their jobs and hundreds of high streets without any banking facilities.

“The closure of another 259 branches is savage and represents a betrayal of loyal staff and customers who have supported the bank for decades. Why is the Government signing off this alarming branch closure program?"

“A decade of slashing jobs has done nothing to boost morale, increase consumer confidence or improve the bank’s performance. This British-taxpayer funded bank should be concentrating on investing in jobs here in the UK, rather than cutting them wholesale.”

Analyst Laith Khalaf at broker Hargreaves Landown said the rise of smartphones has created serious disruption across a number of industries, with bank branches less used as more customers transact digitally, rather than on the high street.

"It’s no coincidence that Britain’s biggest digital bank, Lloyds, also has the lowest cost base relative to its income, and other banks like RBS will naturally seek to emulate that by increasing their mobile services and shutting branches," Khalaf said.

He acknowledged that there was a significant cost in terms of the jobs of front line branch staff and for customers who still rely on their bank branch, with a risk that "those who aren’t part of the digital revolution get left behind by it".

From an investment perspective he said RBS has made slow progress since the financial crisis, but the company has put some significant legacy issues to bed this year, including consigning its bad bank to the history books this week.

"A large fine expected from US regulators still looms large over the bank though, as does the fact that the UK government is still a majority shareholder. We now know the Chancellor is gearing up to sell RBS in the coming years, and barring a miraculous share price recovery that’s going to leave the taxpayer nursing billions of pounds of losses on the bailout."

LIST OF BRANCH CLOSURES

Natwest branch closures, north England: Adel Leeds, Alderley Edge, Ambleside, Bamber Bridge, Bingley, Blyth, Bolton Chorley Old Road, Bradford City Centre, Carnforth, Cockermouth, Colne, Culcheth, Denton, Droylsden, Eccles, Egremont, Fleetwood, Formby, Frodsham, Fulwell & Seaburn, Gateshead High St, Grange-over-Sands, Hale, Haxby York, Heswall, Hexham, Huyton, Keswick, Kirkby, Kirkham, Knaresborough, Liverpool One, Liverpool University, Longridge, Lytham, Manchester University Union, Marple, Millom, New Mills, New Moston, North Shields, Otley, Pemberton, Poulton-Le-Fylde, Prescot, Ramsbottom, Royton, Selby, Settle, Tadcaster, Thirsk, Timperley, Ulverston, Uppermill, Westhoughton, Wigton

Natwest closures, Midlands and East: Alsager, Ampthill, Ashbourne, Belper, Biddulph, Biggleswade, Bingham, Birmingham Broad Street, Bourne, Buckingham, Burslem Stoke-on-Trent, Cheadle, Coalville, Coventry Earlsdon, Daventry, Droitwich Spa, Dronfield, Eastwood Nottingham, Felixstowe, Frinton-on-Sea, Hanley Festival Park, Haverhill, Horncastle, Kempston, Kenilworth, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Leicester Evington Road, Leicester Queen’s Road, Leominster, Lexden Colchester, Lincoln Newark Road, Lutterworth, Malvern, Matlock, Mickelover, Netherfield, Northampton, Nottingham University, Oakham, Olney, Ripley Derbyshire, Rugeley, Sleaford, Southwell, St. James, Staveley Chesterfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Stone Staffordshire, Stowmarket, Sutton Coldfield, Tarporley, Towcester, Trentham Stoke-on-Trent, Warwick, Washwood Heath, Whitchurch Shropshire, Woburn Sands, Woodbridge, Wylde Green

NatWest closures, South West and Wales: Aberdare, Amlwch, Boscombe, Builth Wells, Burnham-on-Sea, Caernarfon, Canford, Cliffs Poole, Chandler’s Ford, Cheddar, Conwy, Ebbw Vale, Emsworth, Ferndown, Hay-on-Wye, Holywell, Hythe Southampton, Langport, Ledbury, Machynlleth, Menai Bridge, Monmouth, New Milton Park Gates Hants, Pontypool, Porthmadog, Prestatyn, Ruthin, Shanklin Isle of Wight, Southampton London Road, Southampton Portswood, Warminster, Wellington Somerset, Welshpool, Westbourne Bournemouth, Wincanton, Winton Bournemouth, Worle, Ystrad Mynach

NatWest closures, London and South East: 49 Bishopsgate, Bankside, Bayswater, Bearsted, Broadstairs, Borough Green, Bow, Canada Square, Canary Wharf, Cavendish Square, Cheshunt, Chislehurst, Coulsdon, East Finchley, Enfield Highway, Esher, Euston Road, Finchley Central, Great Portland Street, Hampstead Village, Hendon Church Road, Highbury and Islington, Hythe Kent, Kingsland, Leytonstone, Maida Vale, Marble Arch, Mile End, Millbank, Mill Hill, Northumberland Heath, Parsons Green, Rochester, Romford Collier Row, Sandwich, Shepperton, Shoreditch, St. John’s Wood, Stamford Hill, Staplehurst, Sunningdale, Teddington, Temple Fortune, Tower Bridge, University of Kent, Upminster, Warlingham, Wembley Park, Whetstone, Whitstable.

RBS closures in Scotland: Anstruther, Banchory, Bishopbriggs, Blantyre, Buckie, Cowdenbeath, Cumnock, Cupar, Dalgety Bay, Denny, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh Blenheim Place, Edinburgh Castle Street, Edinburgh Chesser, Edinburgh Comiston, Edinburgh Davidson Mains, Edinburgh Gilmerton, Edinburgh Juniper Green, Edinburgh Portobello, Forres, Girvan, Glasgow Alexandra Parade, Glasgow Anniesland Cross, Glasgow Burnside, Glasgow Crosshill, Glasgow Govan, Grangemouth, Kilsyth, Kirkcaldy Central, Leven, Mauchline, Newton Mearns, Newton Stewart, Prestwick, Stenhousemuir, Stonehaven, Troon, Westhill, Whitburn,

RBS closures in England: Little Lever, Marylebone, Nottingham.