Village bank is axed

We can confirm that the bank is one of 12 Scottish branches earmarked for the axe and all save Cumbernauld’s lay in rural areas.

However, the RBS insisted that it had no option but to close down the operation.

The bank also insists there will be no redundancies as staff will be deployed to other branches.

An RBS spokesperson confirmed: “We have taken the difficult decision to close the branch on August 20 2015. We are working hard to ensure there are a number of alternative ways for people in the area to continue to bank with us.

“We have reached an agreement with the local Post Office so that our customers can check their balance, deposit and withdraw funds, and business customers can get coinage.

“And our nearest branch, RBS Cumbernauld Tay Walk, is 1.4 miles away.”

When asked why the Village branch was included in the line up of closures, she revealed that business at the bank had, in fact, been closely monitored by bank chiefs.

It then emerged that they viewed the services on offer as under-used - and decided that it was no longer viable to keep trading in Cumbernauld Village.

The spokeperson added “The number of transactions taking place at RBS Cumbernauld Village branch has dropped by 29% since 2011.

“Only 63 customers use the branch on a regular weekly basis. 47 of these customers already use other branches in the area.”

Yet that’s just not good enough according to Councillor and village resident Paddy Hogg.

Councillor Hogg said: ‘‘The local community will be outraged as am I. So much for service from our banks in Scotland with the customer coming first.

“This will impact every account holder in the Village who have used the Royal bank all their lives. This is the price we are all paying for the bankers’crash.”

Meanwhile, the bank has also been accused of hypocrisy by union Unite.

Its deputy Scottish secretary Mary Alexander said: “This makes a mockery of the RBS motto ‘‘making everyday banking easy.

“It also shows a clear abandonment of their customer charter commitment to maintain ‘the last bank in town’.

“It’s bad news for this small community and local businesses that depend on banking services.”.