Bank closures leave half a million Scots behind
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A national charity for older people has underlined the "staggering number of people" left behind as a result of the closure of bank branches and free-to-use cash machines in areas of Scotland such as Caithness.
Analysis released earlier this week from the consumer affairs organisation Which? has revealed that Scotland has lost over a third of its bank and building society branches over the last eight years.
In Wick, the RBS closed in May last year, while branches have also been shuttered in Lybster and Castletown (along with the Clydesdale Bank).
Age Scotland says such closures have had a disproportionate impact on older people, as 500,000 people over the age of 60 do not have access to the internet and go without easy access to their finances.
Far North MP Jamie Stone has stressed that the losses are occurring at the same time communities were seeing ATM and Post Office closures.
“While digital payments are rising cash is still a necessity for more than 25 million people across the UK," the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross said.
“Cash is also a backup for everyone when online systems fail or when, as in many parts of the far North, the broadband is not good enough to support card payments. "
Age Scotland is now asking for a regulator to protect access to cash to ensure that people and communities aren't left behind as the banking industry moves to digital.
The charity has also backed the idea of shared banking hubs which to serve communities without any banks and to sustain a network for the future.
Brian Sloan, chief executive of Age Scotland, said that the push to digital has left behind 500,000 people in Scotland over the age of 60 who do not use the internet.
"That’s the equivalent of the population of our capital city and is a staggering number of people to disenfranchise," he said.
"What’s more, with an ageing population in Scotland and the projected 50 per cent increase in people living with dementia over the next 20 years, older people will find it harder and harder to manage their finances independently if face to face banking options have been eroded to the point of extinction.
"It’s become far too easy for banks to close local branches without proper consideration for huge numbers of their loyal customers who are unable to use or afford the digital alternatives. Banks must now properly explore shared banking hubs to serve the communities who have been left with no branch and to sustain a network across the country which is fit for people of all ages.”
The survey also carried out its own tracking of branch closures since 2015, with RBS closing most branches – shutting 158 of the 399 banks that have disappeared.
It is followed by Bank of Scotland (86), Clydesdale (59), Santander (38) and TSB (35).
These losses have been compounded by a sharp rise in the rate of cashpoint closures throughout the UK last year, which saw 290 ATMs close in Scotland. The majority of these machines (204) were free-to-use cashpoints that give people access to their cash without having to pay a hefty fee for each withdrawal.
Concerned by the double blow of cashpoint and bank closures across Scotland, Which? is calling on the UK Government to give a single regulator a duty to protect access to cash and ensure no-one is left behind by these rapid changes to the payments landscape.
It underline that such an intervention is badly-needed in rural areas, where people may face longer journeys to access cash and broadband speeds are gradually improving from a low level.
But it is equally necessary in urban areas, where cash is vital as a back-up when card and cashless payments collapse.
Mp Pete Wishart MP, chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee, says it is abundantly clear that regulations have not been strong
"Banks are using provision of mobile branches as a ‘get out of jail free card’, but these services are clearly insufficient. We heard that strong regulation is essential and that it should be on a statutory footing," he says
"We were particularly concerned to hear the difficulties that vulnerable groups experience from a lack of face-to-face bank contact. We also heard that the future of Scotland’s tourism industry depends on reversing the trend of ever-reducing access to cash.
"Banks continue to turn a blind eye to these very worrying consequences of their insistence on closing banking facilities. They must halt these closures or risk the suffering of Scotland’s rural businesses and tourism industry being on their watch.”
