RBS to shut more branches

[Sir David Gray]

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There is social interaction and a personal feeling of being able to speak to a human being. Also folk like to wander along their local high street and do their messages and do errands. I totally get it. I have the facility to do online banking but if I have the time I will always go to a branch. The same with supermarket shopping, I don't try any of our weekly shop in the shop and pretty much I know exactly what we want and what brands we buy but would never dream of doing it online.

Correct. I do some banking online but there are a lot of things that I prefer to go into my local branch for.

I don't think the option of speaking to someone face to face should ever be taken away.

[Hibs Class]

Cannot really blame RBS for the decision, based on the economic argument. Hopefully, though, they'll stop banging on about being at all vested in the local communities that they used to serve. And I imagine that the communities whose local branches have survived this cull will realise that it'll be their turn the next time, or the time after that.

[RyeSloan]

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Three of these are local to me, Stenhousemuir, Denny and Grangemouth.

Very sad and a sign of the times unfortunately.

A sign of the times for sure but what's sad about it?

[Just Jimmy]

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A sign of the times for sure but what's sad about it?

People lose jobs? Communities are made smaller? Yet less emphasis is put on human to human interaction and replaced with computers?



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[RyeSloan]

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People lose jobs? Communities are made smaller? Yet less emphasis is put on human to human interaction and replaced with computers?



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Does losing a bank branch that people don't use do any of those things though?

[Just Jimmy]

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Does losing a bank branch that people don't use do any of those things though?

People do use them though. Maybe not in the numbers as they would in a city centre but the truth is they are closing branches which leaves some with miles to travel to the next one. I also assume people do work in them too so the jobs point is fair?

I'm not pro branch as I do most of mine online but I do dislike the trend of not being able to speak to a person face to face. Very soon your supermarket will have no one on the tils either.

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[Scouse Hibee]

The distance some business's/Bowling clubs etc are having to travel to bank their takings is becoming ridiculous.

[Sir David Gray]

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A sign of the times for sure but what's sad about it?

Someone else has beaten me to it but I would echo what they've said. People will be losing their jobs as a result of these closures and local people who use their branches will now have to travel several miles to go to their nearest branch and that may not be possible for a lot of people.

I loathe the idea of having less and less human contact in everyday life and having the ability to speak to someone about something if you want to. There's now robots doing the jobs of humans in a lot of sectors including hospitals and whilst it is undoubtedly cost effective, I do think it's extremely sad.

[High-On-Hibs]

My branch is being shut down due to "not enough people using it". Yet, most of the time when i'm in there, i'm stuck in the queue for over an hour!

Think it's time to leave RBUK and go with a proper independent bank.

[calumhibee1]

I very rarely use the bank in person. I have however noticed that more than one person on this thread has said they wait for over an hour and they don't want the branches closed. Firstly, whenever I use the branch there is nobody there, I walk in, get served straight away and walk straight back out (admittedly I'm not RBS, im BOS). What on earth are you guys waiting for that takes an hour? Secondly, if you wait for over an hour to get served, surely that should be enough to make you use the online services instead? Not a chance would I be standing in an hour long queue at the bank when I could (most likely) do it online.

[lugz]

One of the biggest reasons the branches are closing is because they simply don't make money. A branch can be busy all day but if it's just people taking out money and paying money in its worthless to the bank. The only way banks are going to survive at the moment is through borrowing products.

Within the next 10 years companies like RBS will be 100% online and over the telephone and that goes for all kinds of banking.

[lugz]

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My branch is being shut down due to "not enough people using it". Yet, most of the time when i'm in there, i'm stuck in the queue for over an hour!

Think it's time to leave RBUK and go with a proper independent bank.

I think you've been misinformed if that's what you have been told. It's nothing to do with footfall it's to do with the kind of business going through the branch. As I said in my previous post if people aren't taking out loans, credit cards, mortgages etc the branches are worthless to the bank.

[Beefster]

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There is social interaction and a personal feeling of being able to speak to a human being. Also folk like to wander along their local high street and do their messages and do errands. I totally get it. I have the facility to do online banking but if I have the time I will always go to a branch. The same with supermarket shopping, I don't try any of our weekly shop in the shop and pretty much I know exactly what we want and what brands we buy but would never dream of doing it online.

That's all fine and I get it. Just like high street shoppers generally pay a premium over buying something online, it's going to get to the point where folk that want to use a branch are going to have to pay for it though.

[RyeSloan]

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Someone else has beaten me to it but I would echo what they've said. People will be losing their jobs as a result of these closures and local people who use their branches will now have to travel several miles to go to their nearest branch and that may not be possible for a lot of people.

I loathe the idea of having less and less human contact in everyday life and having the ability to speak to someone about something if you want to. There's now robots doing the jobs of humans in a lot of sectors including hospitals and whilst it is undoubtedly cost effective, I do think it's extremely sad.

Fair enough and I suppose everyone sees and interacts with the world in different ways.

I get the people losing jobs thing and on a personal level for them that will be tough although I would hope that the banks involved would be able to use these people more effectively in their business rather than just letting them go. Or ultimately these people can be employed elsewhere in the economy where they actually contribute to productivity rather than being employed in delivering a loss making service in terminal decline.

I'm not buying the personal interaction thing hugely though...why do you need personal interaction to do standard banking? Anytime I've used a branch (not often) that interaction has pretty much been to tell me to put my pin into the key pad and that's about it!

Seems to me that after PPI banks can't use this 'interaction' to foist unwanted products on people and therefore their branches no longer make them money...more one up for the consumer than any sadness on that front I would say.

As for automation...well with demographics the way they are that's simply the only way forward. Releasing people from doing mundane and low value tasks is all good in my book. Can't say it's prevented me from talking to someone if I want to but as above I don't really think that most standard banking tasks really need me to talk to anyone...maybe that's just me though as I'd rather just get the task done than enter into mundane chat with a stranger about the weather

[Speedy]

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That's all fine and I get it. Just like high street shoppers generally pay a premium over buying something online, it's going to get to the point where folk that want to use a branch are going to have to pay for it though.

Agreed. The big question though, will they.

Most people would be horrified at the thought of paying say £5 per month for a no frills bank account. But the reality is that for most branch regulars it'll cost at least that to break even.

[snooky]

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One of the biggest reasons the branches are closing is because they simply don't make money. A branch can be busy all day but if it's just people taking out money and paying money in its worthless to the bank. The only way banks are going to survive at the moment is through borrowing products.

Within the next 10 years companies like RBS will be 100% online and over the telephone and that goes for all kinds of banking.

If I'm lucky, I'll be pushing up the daisies by then. There's always a bright side, eh?

[Jack]

I'm not sure how many of the branches mentioned will fall into the rural setting, or how many that have already shut do.

There's at least a couple of things us city dwellers that might not think about.

There may not be a signal for these people to bank, or indeed to anything, online. Its not just the position of the bank but their customers living away from the village in even more remote locations.

There's the viability of the villages they serve. Providing a service aside. It may not be much 2 or 3 people leaving a village but its the thin edge of the wedge; the bank goes, a grocer or the butcher goes, the school becomes less viable, the young families move away ... the village ceases to exist! Perhaps an extreme scenario and not blaming all these events on the RBS but ...

[snooky]

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I'm not sure how many of the branches mentioned will fall into the rural setting, or how many that have already shut do.

There's at least a couple of things us city dwellers that might not think about.

There may not be a signal for these people to bank, or indeed to anything, online. Its not just the position of the bank but their customers living away from the village in even more remote locations.

There's the viability of the villages they serve. Providing a service aside. It may not be much 2 or 3 people leaving a village but its the thin edge of the wedge; the bank goes, a grocer or the butcher goes, the school becomes less viable, the young families move away ... the village ceases to exist! Perhaps an extreme scenario and not blaming all these events on the RBS but ...

Good point and probably closure of a village's Post Office hurt as much in this way - probably more so.
Everything is not about money (or at least it shouldn't be).

[Hibrandenburg]

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There is social interaction and a personal feeling of being able to speak to a human being. Also folk like to wander along their local high street and do their messages and do errands. I totally get it. I have the facility to do online banking but if I have the time I will always go to a branch. The same with supermarket shopping, I don't try any of our weekly shop in the shop and pretty much I know exactly what we want and what brands we buy but would never dream of doing it online.

I recently had to close the accounts of my mother. I haven't a clue how I could have done that other than go to her local branch with death certificate and proof of identification. The staff at the bank were extremely understanding and helpful. There's more to high street banking than just transfers and withdrawals.

[Pete]

I deal in cash quite a lot and should therefore be one of the people who are most effected by branch closures but when I think about it, it's not that big a deal. The only pain is that I might have to drive a bit further.

Even when I do go into a branch I don't interact with anyone. I can pay notes and coins in, take money out and see my balances all at one machine. Moving money between accounts can be done online and if I have a query there is a local voice at the end of a phone.

It's sad in a way but at least I don't have anyone giving me fake chat which is only a preamble to some sales pitch.

And that person who goes along the huge queue asking if there's anything she can do. Yes, you can get behind the ****ing counter and serve people!

Some things I won't miss.

[Lucius Apuleius]

That's Denny down to a one bank town then.

[snooky]

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I deal in cash quite a lot and should therefore be one of the people who are most effected by branch closures but when I think about it, it's not that big a deal. The only pain is that I might have to drive a bit further.

Even when I do go into a branch I don't interact with anyone. I can pay notes and coins in, take money out and see my balances all at one machine. Moving money between accounts can be done online and if I have a query there is a local voice at the end of a phone.

It's sad in a way but at least I don't have anyone giving me fake chat which is only a preamble to some sales pitch.

And that person who goes along the huge queue asking if there's anything she can do. Yes, you can get behind the ****ing counter and serve people!

Some things I won't miss.

You obviously have a car Pete, and drive to the bank already.
Some folk don't and have to start relying on public transport to get to their nearest bank.
As Hibrandenburg said "There's more to high street banking than just transfers and withdrawals". He's spot on.

[snooky]

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/news/...1_OM2-PID87640

If true, this is no surprise to me. Banks all over the world have been doing this since time immemorial.
I'm of the opinion that bankers see nothing unethical in it. To them, it's just 'business as usual'.

[Pete]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...iness-42179432

Ouch. That’s a lot of branches.

[heretoday]

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My branch is being shut down due to "not enough people using it". Yet, most of the time when i'm in there, i'm stuck in the queue for over an hour!

Think it's time to leave RBUK and go with a proper independent bank.

You're right. The queue at the RBS Corstorphine branch is almost out in the street as I speak. I hope the staff laid off at other branches will be deployed here. Somehow I doubt it.

[patch1875]

Must be years since I’ve been in a branch.

[snooky]

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Must be years since I’ve been in a branch.

You were standing in the queue outside too then.

What a disgraceful way to treat your customers.

[patch1875]

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You were standing in the queue outside too then.

What a disgraceful way to treat your customers.

Don’t you do online? I bank with Santander business and personal all my business pay ins I can do through the atm.

[Speedy]

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You're right. The queue at the RBS Corstorphine branch is almost out in the street as I speak. I hope the staff laid off at other branches will be deployed here. Somehow I doubt it.

The one at the West End is the same.

Have the list of branches been announced yet?

[johnbc70]

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The one at the West End is the same.

Have the list of branches been announced yet?

Yes - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42192760

Rarely use a branch these days but the fact that in the last 3 years people using branches is down 40% and online banking is up 73% you could see what was coming.