MORE than one in 10 of Clydesdale Bank's Scottish branches are to close as part of a redesign that will see millions of pounds ploughed in to making improvements in online and mobile banking services.
The 16 outlets will shut before the end of the year as part of a restructuring that will also mean 12 branches of Yorkshire Bank, which, like Clydesdale, is part of National Australia Bank, will close their doors permanently, saving £5m a year overall.
Clydesdale, which has 144 branches in Scotland, and Yorkshire banks said that £45m would be invested in customer improvements, frontline jobs would be safeguarded and no compulsory redundancies would be necessary.
However, critics said the axing of branches amounted to a betrayal of customers and that many would now be forced to travel long distances to access face-to-face banking services.
Derek French, director of the Campaign for Community Banking Services, said the closure of the branch in Auchterarder in Perthshire meant that only one bank, a Bank of Scotland, would be left in the town. The departure from Newport on Tay will mean that there are no banks left in the Fife town, with the next closest across the river in Dundee.
"Quite a number of these branches are the last in a community or the last but one," Mr French said. "It does harm communities and leaves them vulnerable.
"Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank have been quiet on the closure front for quite a few years, since a big purge in 2006. I think this is very much a tidying up operation.
"National Australia Bank have been trying to sell Clydesdale and Yorkshire for years. They seem to be weeding out branches they don't ever see becoming stars and sorting out their portfolio to make it more saleable."
Under the proposals, three flagship Clydesdale Bank branches will be developed in Scotland, in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. David Thorburn, chief executive of Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank, said that resources would be focussed on "where they can deliver the best results for customers".
"No branch closure is welcomed by customers or staff, I understand that, which is why we are working to minimise the effects these changes have on them," he added. "A branch network remains at the core of what we do, and we are investing in it, but we must balance that against the investment we need to make in the services customers now expect - online and mobile banking services that give customers control of their finances when and where they want it most."
The Scottish Government welcomed the bank's assurance that frontline jobs would be safeguarded but said it was important that service levels to customers whose branches were closing would be maintained. One of the axed outlets, Blairgowrie, is in Finance Secretary John Swinney's constituency.
Fraser Sutherland, consumer spokesman for Citizens Advice Scotland, described the distances some people would have to travel to access their bank as "very worrying", particularly as many isolated areas had poor public transport links.
"So many people are struggling with their finances at the moment that easy access to bank accounts is really important. For them, these closures will not just be a minor inconvenience but a real problem," he said.
"We hope Clydesdale Bank are aware of the implications of removing high-street banking from rural communities - especially for the many who have no access to online services. It's not only consumers who lose out, as research has shown two-thirds of small rural businesses visit their local bank every week.
"Having to travel further will cost money and time they can ill afford."
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