The Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank will close 79 branches across England and Scotland in 2017 at the same time as boosting its digital and mobile communications with customers.
The bank said the number of customers using branches for day-to-day transactions across the banking industry has fallen by a third since 2011, while there has been a sharp increase in digital and mobile engagement.
To support this transformation the bank has committed to spending £350m to enhance such digital communication.
It will close 40 Clydesdale Bank branches and 39 Yorkshire Bank branches in 2017.
Gavin Opperman, customer banking director, for the banking group, said: “The changes announced continue our journey towards a model that combines an enhanced digital platform with a right sized branch network; allowing customers to interact with us through a wide range of channels – mobile, online, telephone, in-branch – whenever and however they want.”
He said the bank would try to find roles for frontline branch staff either within other branches or elsewhere in the company, wherever possible. He anticipated that around 200 Clydesdale Bank staff and 200 Yorkshire Bank staff would be at risk of redundancy.
Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, said his colleagues would be devastated by the redundancies but was also concerned about the communities impacted by the closures.
“The union has called on the bank to give a commitment to mitigate compulsory redundancies where possible and that they will reconsider closing any bank branches that are the last bank in a town."
