´óÏó´«Ã½

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) plans to close 18 of its 86 branches across Scotland, with the loss of 105 jobs.

The closures will leave 69 branches in Scotland, in which it is pledging to invest more than £10m.

RBS, now branded under the NatWest Group, says the further reduction in branch numbers is due to declining use by customers.

It is promising there will be no further closures before 2026.

Closures include three branches in Edinburgh, three in Glasgow, as well as Bathgate, East Kilbride, Largs, Aberdeen, New Deer and Helensburgh.

However, RBS has plans to create a new flagship branch out of the two branches closing in Inverness.

In a statement, RBS said customers were using digital banking "more than ever before" with over 80% of active current account holders using digital services.

It said it was responding to an "industry-wide shift" to online services and investing in digital banking.

An RBS spokesperson said: "While we are increasingly engaging our customers digitally, our branch network remains important to us.

"We are also significantly investing in refreshing our network – we are investing £10.5m in our network across Scotland, from 2023-24, as well as continuing to invest in shared solutions like the Post Office and banking hubs.

"Our customers appreciate the speed and convenience of digital banking for everyday transactions, and often, when it comes to making bigger, more complex decisions they value speaking to our skilled and experienced colleagues."

The spokesperson added that more than 97% of its retail accounts are opened over the internet.

RBS employs around 10,000 people in Scotland.

As of December 2023, there were only 404 bank branches left in Scotland, with 636 banks and building societies closing since 2015 - more than 60% in just nine years.

Esther O'Hara, Unite the union's industrial officer, called the move "another massive blow to this loyal workforce and the communities the bank serve".

She said: "Many of these banks are situated in rural and remote communities where RBS customers rely on this vital service.

"The proposed closures come off the back of RBS closures elsewhere in the UK and we fear this latest announcement is just another stage in the phasing out of banks from our nation's streets in the race to make all banking operations digital which is not suitable or accessible for many customers."

Ms O'Hara said Unite's priority was to ensure that there were no compulsory redundancies.

The RBS branches earmarked for closure in September are: