A Kirriemuir cash machine, emptied by thieves before Christmas, will not be replaced because of the bank’s imminent closure.
Royal Bank of Scotland will permanently shut its Bank Street branch doors on February 24 because fewer people have been using it.
When they confirmed the closure late last year, RBS cited a 24% drop in transactions at the Kirrie branch, which broadly mirrored a 30% fall in transactions across the branch network. At the same time their business has seen a 200% increase in online and mobile transactions.
Local services were dealt a further blow just prior to Christmas when organised criminals broke into the ATM machine and stole a five-figure sum of cash. The December 20 incident is still under enquiry.
A mobile branch was despatched to Kirriemuir for a day ensure that local residents had banking services from RBS. But, while the bank re-opened, the cash machine will not be replaced.
An RBS spokesperson said: “As residents of Kirriemuir have access to other free ATMs we have decided not to replace the ATMthe branch is scheduled for closure and replacing the ATM would be very expensive and would take time to do so.
“Given the branch is closing in a matter of weeks and the ATM was not being left behind we feel this is the right decision.”
That decision appears to scupper any hopes that the bank might be persuaded to retain any kind of presence in the town. Indeed, RBS will hand the lease they hold on the Bank Street premises back to the building’s landlord when they depart in about six weeks from now.
RBS recognised that some customers prefer to do business in person and said they had an agreement with the post office for customers to withdraw cash, check balances and make deposits free of charge, as well as enabling local businesses can also get coinage.
With the post office due to close and its services transfer to a local newsagent, it remains to be seen how effective, or well-received this agreement will be in practice.
Local councillor Ronnie Proctor believed that both institutions missed a trick and should have pooled their resources by way of a combined bank and post office.
He said: “I remain very concerned about the decision to close the RBS branch at Kirriemuir and the fact that they won’t replace the ATM meantime.
“They talk of reduced footfall, but Kirriemuir is a growing town and will continue to grow under the local plan. There is an older population who don’t like on-line banking and all the things that they suggest they should do.
“I do feel that it is slap in the face to all the RBS customers from Kirriemuir.
“As for the post office move, I remain convinced that it will not be suitable for the needs of local people and a newsagent is not the right place for it. I always felt it would have made good sense to locate the post office within the bank premises and then we would have seen both services open and retained in Kirriemuir.”