Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chairman Sir Philip Hampton has warned that further branch closures are in the offing as customers are increasingly embracing online and mobile banking.
During the annual shareholder meeting in Edinburgh, Hampton stated, "While online and mobile transactions have grown by 232% since 2011, branch transactions have declined by around 30%."
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"With continued rapid change in the way people choose to bank, there will inevitably be further closures."
RBS, which is 80% owned by the UK government, had drawn a five-year plan in 2009 to transform itself into a smaller and simpler bank.
RBS chief executive Ross McEwan said, "This is a structure that reflects the new focus of the bank, and the need to efficiently allocate our resources so we are prepared to serve the future needs of customers. "
"The truth is that some branches hardly see a customer, which is why we’re taking tough decisions about closing, and sometimes making redundancies – although that is always a last resort."
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By GlobalDataEarlier, in April this year, RBS said that it will shut down 44 offices across the UK, saying that the rising demand of online and mobile banking has forced the lender to cut physical presence.
The British banking group manages nearly 2,000 branches under the RBS and NatWest brands, and also operates Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland and is spinning off 302 branches under the Williams & Glyn brand name.
