Mass Scottish bank closures “unacceptable” says Age Scotland

Scotland’s national charity for older people has called on banks to introduce shared banking hubs to alleviate the impact of their mass branch closures which they have branded “unacceptable”.

The number of bank branches in Scotland fell by a third between 2010 and 2017, with five banks closing 488 branches.

Royal Bank of Scotland, still more than 60 per cent owned by the taxpayer, announced in December that it was closing 62 branches across north of the border.

Now, Age Scotland, which contributed to the Scottish Parliament’s inquiry into bank closures that culminated in a bank closure debate in Edinburgh this week, has appealed for the innovative solution of “banking hubs” which is gaining traction with politicians and was noted in the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee’s report.

Brian Sloan, Age Scotland’s chief executive, said: “Older people have been telling us how bank closures are affecting them and we’ve made the case to the Scottish Parliament. I’m delighted that our contribution has been recognised in the Committee’s final report, including our suggestion that the provision of shared banking hubs should be further explored by the banks.

“Physical branches are important to older people. They prefer having a face-to-face conversation about their finances with a real person. As older people are more likely to be targeted for scams, they’re less likely to go online or use the phone for banking and they shouldn’t be discriminated for this choice. Indeed, 67% of people over 75 don’t use the internet at all.

“It’s important for banks to look for innovative solutions to bank closures. Our recommendation of shared banking hubs for smaller communities, suburbs and rural areas is gathering support from older people and politicians.”

“Banks are at risk of alienating a fifth of Scotland’s over 65 population, which is only going to increase as the population ages. Banks need to future-proof their facilities – ensuring there’s dementia and age-friendly banking support for their customers. This includes designing brick and mortar and mobile branches for all customers that are open for a sufficient amount of time at each location to support people with limited mobility and conditions.

“We’ve heard of mobile branches that have only been available for 15 minutes each week for rural areas, which is unacceptable and ostracises older people with additional support needs or troubles with public transport.”

An RBS spokesperson said: “We recognise every customer will have different banking needs and we are committed to ensuring all our customers receive the best possible service. However, the way customers are banking is changing, and it is important we respond where the bank machines are.

“Across Scotland, usage of our branches is down 44 per cent since 2011 and only 1 per cent of our customers in Scotland visit their branch weekly.

“We have invested to provide more ways to bank than ever before including in digital services via online banking and our mobile app, as well as face to face options.

“Royal Bank of Scotland has tripled its physical points of service to over 2,000 in communities across Scotland since 2014 through our 21 community bankers who serve 69 communities, our partnership with the 1,400 Post Offices in Scotland, ATMS, branch network, and mobile vans.”