Revealed: Scots suffer two bank branch closures every week for four years

It estimates there are around 200 cash deserts in the UK - places where there is no access to either a branch or an ATM within a "reasonable distance" - and around two in three are in Scotland. They were overwhelmingly in very rural areas.

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Which? has now called for a "robust consultation" to take place to ensure the needs of banks’ customers are being met before their access to financial services is removed.

One in eight of the 2868 UK bank branches that have shut or are about to are in Scotland, with 368 axed over the four years.

That eclipses the 361 shut in the South East of England, the 353 in the North West of England and the 327 in the South West.

Taxpayer-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are responsible for the biggest share of the closures in Scotland with 150 axed, followed by Bank of Scotland which has lost 86 and Clydesdale which has disposed of 59.

Which?’s research comes as it was revealed that Scotland faces being one of the worst affected areas of the UK as proposals are lodged to reduce fees for card machine operators which is set to sound the death knell on thousands of ‘hole-in-the-wall’ machines.

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The concerns come as the fee LINK, the UK‟s largest cash machine network, receives from banks per transaction is to be cut from 25p to 20p this month. It has led to worries that more than half of Scotland's 5300 free-to-use ATMS could disappear.

Just a fortnight ago the board of RBS refused to yield to demands for a halt to branch closures with the under-fire chief executive Ross McEwan suggested the 'in-decline' Post Office is "the best solution" to fill the void of bank branch closures.

In December, RBS announced it would shut a total of 62 Scottish branches with the loss of 158 jobs leaving Scotland with less than 100 branches for 1.7 million customers. Ten of them were later given a stay of execution until at least the end of 2018, pending a review.

In a commentary to MSPs, Thomas Docherty, the public affairs manager of Which? warned that it is the older customers and the vulnerable that will be most affected by the cuts.

"Online banking is growing but, according to UK Finance only 56 per cent of customers currently use online banking, so what is happening with the other 44 per cent? How are their needs being serviced?," he said.

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"People predominantly prefer banking in person to online banking for three reasons: convenience, which, frankly, many of the banks are doing their best to try to take away, connectivity and confidence.

"If you do not have broadband or access to a computer of your own, you cannot do online banking.

"Debacles such as that experienced by TSB over the past couple of weeks will have done nothing to let that bank get more of its customers to switch to online banking."

Age Scotland said the data was "alarming news to older people in Scotland" and called on the banking industry to look again at the concept of sharing branches in smaller communities, suburbs and rural areas.

“The systematic closure of bank branches in Scotland is happening at an alarming rate and it is hitting older Scots the hardest," said Age Scotalnd chief executive Brian Sloan. “There are a huge number of older people who are reliant on branches who do not want to, or cannot, transfer to internet or mobile banking."

“It is clear that many banks are putting their profit margins over the needs of customers who rely on their services the most. It is not progress if the most vulnerable are left behind.

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"The suggestion from those such as RBS that the Post Office fill the hole left behind doesn’t work in practice as their network is already under huge pressure and has been diminished in rural and remote parts of Scotland."

The Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland said the tend in Scotland is making it harder to run a business north of the border and said there are examples of business owners travelling for hours on weekly basis just to deposit cash.

Stuart Mackinnon, external affairs manager for the FSB in Scotland, said: “A local branch closure hits high streets, not only reducing local footfall but also delivering another empty building in a town centre. Given the other pressures our high streets are facing, it is bitterly disappointing that these large banking institutions are deserting them.

“We’ve argued that the UK government should use its shareholding in RBS to make them rethink their current closure programme. Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee agreed with this recommendation and urged the UK Government to step-in.

"At present, unfortunately, the UK government looks unlikely to change its approach.”

The Which? research shows that across the UK bank branches are closing at closing at about two a day.

And the taxpayer-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland group, including the England-based sister bank NatWest and Ulster Bank together have closed the most across the UK with 1023 axed over the four years. NatWest has disposed of 638, RBS has lost 350 and 35 Ulster Bank branches have gone.

Lloyds Banking Group have shut 502 with 87 Bank of Scotland branches, 55 at Halifax and 366 at Lloyds.

The study reveals that the closures have been accelerating since 2016 - even as the possibility of cash machines being removed from communities further threatens access to banking services. So far this year 670 branches have closed or been scheduled to - putting 2018 on course to overtake the number of 2017 closures (879).

Which? Money Expert, Gareth Shaw, said: “Bank branch closures are happening at an alarming rate - with almost 60 shutting every month in the UK - stripping customers and communities of access to the financial services they need.

“While the decision is clearly a commercial one for a bank to take, it is also crucial that banks do recognise the needs of their customers and the communities they serve, before simply shutting their doors - and their customers out.”

An RBS spokesman said: "“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 branches and re-shaping our network, replacing traditional bricks and mortar branches with alternative ways to bank, including community bankers, mobile branches, and post offices, so that we can reach even more customers.

"We are committed to ensuring our customers and communities are able to continue accessing quality banking services and we have engaged with customers since we announced these branch closures to ensure they are aware of all the alternative ways to bank in their area”.

Lloyds Group said they continue to invest in their branch network and are committed to maintaining their market share of branches, while ensuring that customers have a variety of ways to meet their banking needs, including mobile banking and through the Post Office. They also said that any decision to close a branch is driven by customers’ behaviour and that they are committed to maintaining a market share of 21%. Lloyds has also expanded its mobile branch service.