ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND TO CLOSE 18 MORE BRANCHES WITH 105 JOBS LOST

The Royal Bank of Scotland will close 18 branches across the UK this year, in another blow to the high street.

Sites in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow are among branches set to be shuttered, with 105 jobs lost.

RBS, which is part of the NatWest group, serves 3.3million personal customers through around 700 branches, mainly in Scotland.

It comes amid a wave of branch closures by major banks. In April alone, Barclays is closing 23 of its stores and 12 Lloyds sites will also disappear from the high street.

Over 300 bank branches have either closed their doors or are slated for closure in 2024 so far.

Banks have cited increased use of online banking by customers among reasons for closing physical sites.

Customers are also able to use post office branches for simple transactions and many banks have launched mobile apps, but campaigners have raised concerns that this could leave older and more vulnerable clients behind.

Nearly 6,000 outlets have already disappeared from high streets in the UK since the start of 2015 as banks continue to cut costs and point to a customer shift towards digital banking.

The number of closures could leave some towns 'bankless' with residents forced to travel miles for their nearest branch.

In one case, in Leiston, Suffolk, customers may be forced to trek 24 miles after Barclays announced its intention to shutter the town's last bank.

One idea to try to alleviate the pain for those communities affected is the setting up of banking hubs. These allow different lenders to share branch facilities, each taking it in turn to use them to serve customers on different days of the week.

Which RBS branches are set to close this year?

78 Union Street, Aberdeen - October 9

8 Hopetoun Street, Bathgate - September 25

18 Tay Walk, Cumbernauld - September 18

277 Strathmartine Road, Dundee - October 8

24/25 Princes Square, East Kilbride - October 10

206 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh - September 26

2 Bernard Street, Leith - October 10

30 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh - September 19

2139 Paisley Road, West Cardonald - September 19

9 Clifton Place, Glasgow - November 19

88 Main Street, Rutherglen - September 24

2 Colquhoun Square, Helensburgh - September 29

29 Harbour Road, Inverness - TBC

Unit 28 Eastgate Shopping Centre, Inverness - TBC

35/37 Main Street, Largs - October 3

2 Main Street, New Deer - September 26

30 Old Liston Road, Newbridgen - October 2

98 Main Street, Wishaw - September 24

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