RBS to shut another 54 branches

Royal Bank of Scotland will close another 54 branches in England and Wales in January with the loss of 258 jobs.

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RBS to shut another 54 branches

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The move comes on top of plans announced earlier this year to close 162 branches with the loss of 792 jobs.

Unite the union has branded the latest closures "disgusting", noting that RBS is still 62.4% owned by the taxpayer, following a government bailout in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis.

The bank has blamed the closures on the collapse of plans to launch a standalone 'challenger bank' using the Williams & Glyn brand.

RBS had originally tried to carve out the Williams & Glyn business and develop a new banking platform for the operation but scrapped the plans in 2016 after admitting that the IT challenges had been overwhelming.

The "vast majority" of affected branches are in close proximity to either another RBS or NatWest branch, says the bank, which is also promising no more closures before 2020.

It is also stressing that branches are becoming less important as more customers go digital. Since 2014, branch transactions across RBS in England and Wales are down 30%. During this same period, there has been a 53% increase in the number of customers using mobile banking.

Reports recently surfaced that RBS has also called in challenger upstart Starling to help it develop a standalone digital bank.

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