Charity warns that banking deserts will hit older, vulnerable people hardest

 Age Scotland, the national charity for older people, has warned that the latest Clydesdale Bank and Virgin Money closures risk creating banking deserts across Scotland.

Virgin Money announced this week that it would close 22 Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank and Virgin Money branches across the UK this year. It also plans to “consolidate” a further 30 branches over the next year, where there are two or more branches within half a mile.

Age Scotland believes that closing Clydesdale Bank branches, particularly in locations such as Dingwall, Dumbarton, Crieff  and Dyce will leave customers with long distances to travel to their nearest branch.Many will face almost a two-hour round trip by public transport to visit their bank.

Customers in Dingwall will have to travel 13 miles to Inverness, while it is 17 miles between Crieff and Perth. Dumbarton to Clydebank is nearly eight miles, while those in Dyce will find their nearest branch almost six miles away in Aberdeen city centre.

The news follows Lloyds Banking Group’s announcement in January that it would close 15 Bank of Scotland branches across Scotland.

Brian Sloan, Chief Executive of Age Scotland, said: “This news adds to the real risk of large banking deserts opening up across parts of Scotland. There’s no doubt that older and more vulnerable customers will be hardest hit by the latest round of closures.

"Tens of thousands of older people risk being left behind as high street banks disappear in the relentless march towards online banking. Some of those most likely to find it harder to access their own finances are those half million people over the age of 60 in Scotland who do not use the internet, but they are often the group forgotten about by the banks.

“Now is the time for banks to get together and establish shared banking hubs so that communities across Scotland can continue to have a face-to-face service and those not online have easy access to their own money. We know that huge numbers of older people prefer to speak to real people when it comes to managing their money and it can significantly help to reduce instances of scams and fraud.

“We understand that the way people bank is changing, and many branches are seeing declining footfall. But we would urge banks to consider creative alternatives to closures to avoid leaving customers out in the cold.”

Notes to editors

The banks affected in Scotland are Dingwall, Dumbarton, Dyce, Crieff, Edinburgh (Sighthill and St Andrew Square), Giffnock, Wishaw, Aberdeen, Dundee, and Glasgow  Queen Street.

Travel distances by public transport (one way) are as follows:

- Dingwall to Clydesdale Bank, Academy Street Inverness - 23 minutes
- Crieff to Clydesdale Bank, High Street Perth - 52 minutes
- Dumbarton to Clydesdale Bank, Sylvania Way, Clydebank - 39 minutes
- Dyce to Clydesdale Bank, Union Street, Aberdeen - 17 minutes (train) or 48 minutes (bus)