Castlebay bank saved from closure

The Royal Bank of Scotland has confirmed it will be keeping its Castlebay branch in Barra open after responding to an independent review of 10 specific branch closure decisions.

Simon Watson, Managing Director of Personal Banking at Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “We would like to thank Johnston Carmichael for their review of 10 Royal Bank branches in Scotland that were due to close.

“These branches were selected because, unlike the other branches that were closed, they were nearly all the last bank in town and more than nine miles to the nearest alternative Royal Bank branch.

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“We accept Johnston Carmichael’s recommendations in full.

“Johnston Carmichael has judged that there are exceptional circumstances in Barra and has recommendeded this branch remains open – so it will.

“The report highlights the difficult nature of branch closure decisions.

“We know branches are important to many communities, but equally we know that fewer and fewer people are using them as more people bank online.

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“In every case of a branch closing we are committed to providing the best possible range of banking alternatives, including mobile branches, banking in the local post office, community bankers and remote services such as telephone banking. “With today’s report, we are able to say for the first time with certainty that there will be no further reviews of our branch network in the immediate future – until at least 2020.”

The full report is available on Johnston Carmichael’s website here