AS a casualty of a bank branch closure I believe that I am qualified in commenting on the effects on customers when a local branch closes. RBS chief executive Ross McEwan stated to the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee that “branch use has fallen dramatically”. In your article ("RBS accused of ‘historic betrayal’ as chief defends branch closures", The Herald, May 9) Mr McEwan also claimed that branch use had fallen by about 40 per cent over the last three years. Branches have been abandoned by a tech-savvy, physically mobile younger generation who have a good understanding of how their bank accounts work. However not all bank customers fall into this category and it is those customers who are not that big banks seem to have no issue abandoning.
My branch closed with the loss of five jobs, devastating for the people concerned but in my opinion what was lost to the local community was even more devastating. The elderly, the disabled, those with learning difficulties rely on a local branch to be able to cope with their accounts. There is also the protection a local branch gives, my colleagues and I prevented many frauds and thefts being perpetrated on some of our more vulnerable customers.
Mr McEwan should try getting that service from a mobile app or internet banking. I would like to point out that I was not an employee of RBS but of another high street bank that appears to have no qualms about kicking certain customers to the kerb.
Anne-Marie Colgan,
10 Castle Wynd,
Bothwell.
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