RBS to close Oldham branch as part of national cull

OLDHAM is set to lose another bank as the Royal Bank of Scotland will close the doors of its town centre branch on August 2, 2018.

The closure is one of 162 nationwide, with the possible loss of nearly 800 jobs, as RBS looks to streamline their operations and locations.

Branches in Ashton, Hyde and Rochdale will also be axed though the Shaw branch will remain open. Mossley’s last bank run by RBS closed in 2015.

Customers currently using the Oldham branch on Church Terrace are being told to use NatWest on Yorkshire Street.

An RBS spokesman said: “We are no longer launching Williams & Glyn as a challenger bank, and we now have two branch networks operating in close proximity to each other: NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland, in England and Wales.

“As a result, we have had to review our overall branch footprint and we’ve made the difficult decision to close a number of Royal Bank of Scotland branches.

“Customers of Royal Bank of Scotland in England & Wales will be able to use NatWest branches instead for their everyday banking needs.”

In relation to the closure of the branch in Oldham, an RBS spokesperson confirmed: “We have taken the difficult decision to close the Royal Bank of Scotland Oldham branch on 2 August 2018.

“Since 2012 we have seen the way in which people use Oldham branch change, with 80 per-cent of customers already banking in other ways locally.

“Transactions at Oldham have reduced by 45 per-cent since 2012, with only 81 customers now visiting the branch on a regular weekly basis.

“We provide our customers with more ways to bank than ever before – customers can choose from a range of digital, face-to-face and local banking options.

“We will also give our customers details about alternative ways to bank with us including our digital banking options, in branch, by post and online.

“We will be proactively contacting our vulnerable customers to let them know about these changes as soon as possible and will allow plenty of time to give them the help and support they will need.

“We know that not all of our customers are comfortable or familiar with using online or mobile banking, so we have created a new specialist task force of Royal Bank of Scotland Tech Xperts who will be dedicated to supporting our customers with training and support with digital skills – as well as other ways of banking – until the branch closes.

The news follows the recent announcement by Lloyds Bank that they are shutting up to 50 of their branches by December this year, including those in Royton and Stalybridge.