Call for banks to listen over mobile plans

BANK chiefs have been urged to listen to community concerns about mobile banking provision after the closure of two under-threat branches was confirmed.

Kyle and Beauly’s Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) sites will shut in the new year.

Johnston Carmichael, which carried out the review on behalf of RBS, said all banking functions in Beauly could be fulfilled by the mobile branch and local Post Office while in Kyle branch use was low.

Local MSP Kate Forbes urged bank bosses to listen to community suggestions over mobile bank use and timings to ensure customers do not miss out. She said: "As the MSP for Beauly and Kyle, I am of course disappointed that the RBS branches are to close. While I recognise branch use has been declining in both of these areas, there are still well-documented and legitimate questions regarding security and disabled access in the alternative banking provision."

She said: I hope RBS will work with me to listen to the views of the community to ensure there are better routes and provision in the Beauly area."

The union Unite accused the bank of simply going through the motions of reviewing the cases before pushing ahead with its original plans.

The union’s regional officer, Lyn Turner, said: "The Johnston Carmichael review was entirely predictable and nothing but a rubber-stamp of RBS management decisions. Sixty communities out of an original 62 with branches earmarked for closure will now be marginalised by this so-called review. Unite will request to meet RBS urgently to discuss the impact."

Simon Watson, managing director of personal banking at RBS pledged to provide banking alternatives in Kyle and Beauly. He said: "We know branches are important to many communities, but equally we know that fewer people are using them as more people bank online. In every case of a branch closing we are committed to providing the best possible range of alternatives."