REMEMBER the ad campaign that the Royal Bank of Scotland launched in the aftermath of the financial crisis? “RBS is here for you,” it said. The bank also promised not to close down a branch if it was the last bank in town and boasted about their branches stretching from one end of the country to the other.
How hollow that advert looks now. In the last two years alone, RBS has closed 31 branches in Scotland – and they are not alone. According to a new study by Which?, 89 branches have been shut in Scotland in the last two years in what is the biggest retrenchment of its kind since the invention of modern banking.
The reason the banks give for the closures is entirely predictable: the growth of online banking and a reduction in the number of people going into physical branches. HSBC for example says that the number of visits to branches has fallen on average by 40 per cent in the past five years and the truth of the change should be acknowledged.
However, the banks must also accept they have responsibilities to all of their customers, not just those who are online. It is true many love the convenience of online but not everyone is in that situation - as Which? points out, there are still around 20million adults in the UK who do not use their bank’s online service. Many others will have a poor broadband connection and are unable to bank online.
In responding to these trends and considering whether to close a branch, the banks should look at whether a community has reliable broadband – otherwise rural areas will be affected disproportionately. Banks should also do as Which? suggests and consult with communities as well as explore ways in which they can maintain a presence such as mobile banking.
Banks have to adapt to the changing world. But they must also aim to serve all their customers – those who use the internet and those who do not.
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