Royal Bank of Scotland is to axe another 200 jobs from its retail network, in what has been described by union bosses as a "year-long cull of local branches across the country".
The latest round of job losses at the bailed-out British lender comes hard on the heels of plans announced in April to cut 600 jobs, shut 34 high street locations and reduce opening hours in hundreds more.
With another 200 jobs on the block, RBS will have eliminated more than one in 10 positions at its UK branch network in the past two months, according to Reuters, which cites sources close to the bank on the cuts. Another 20 branches are also said to be up for review.
RBS has cut about 1,350 positions out of a workforce of 12,000 people in its branch network since mid-March, says Reuters, and has closed more branches than any other British lender in the past two years.
Speaking at the bank's annual shareholder meeting in Edinburgh last week, chief executive Ross McEwan was unapologetic. "The use of transactions at counters is a bygone day in most cases," he told the meeting. "Unfortunately, that is the harsh reality that we have to live with."