Councillors Drysdale, Howie and Young from the Castle Douglas & Crocketford ward and Cllr Stitt from Abbey Ward, Dalbeattie are angered and shocked and angry to hear about the proposed closure of the Royal Bank in Castle Douglas, particularly for the elderl and infirm, those who run our much loved businesses and also for those who do not use digital online banking.
Whilst shifts to digital banking and cost cutting by major financial groups have meant that 6000 banks have closed since 2015 and total closures are set to hit over 7,000 this in turn leaves rural communities and market towns almost devoid of in person banking services.
Councillor Drysdale said ‘Local councillors received official email notification from the Royal Bandk of Scotland (RBS) on Friday which seemed to be a fait accompli. A link provided had further information as to a ‘mobile branch stop’ that will open in Castle Douglas every Wednesday morning from 16th September for banking cheques, paying bills, cash withdrawals, digital banking support etc.
In the meantime, I have written to the RBS for more detail, the CE of the Human Rights Commission and will be writing to LINK to state my dissatisfaction regarding the closures and concerns that one morning a week is not nearly good enough service level for our rural and ageing community.’
All four councillors are in agreement and are taking necessary and similar action. Cllr Howie added, ‘The proposed mobile service is not suited to the needs of our rural population especially with limited public transport, not enough disabled friendly taxis and for many of our residents who cannot operate digital banking and rely on face-to-face banking.’
Councillors have received assurances from MSP Finlay Carson that he has written to the UK Government to implement urgent changes for rural banking services.
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