State-backed Royal Bank of Scotland is to cut around 792 jobs and shutter 162 branches following a review of its network in England and Wales, prompting criticism from customers and one of the unions representing the bank's staff. Georgie Frost, consumer advocate at leading comparison site GoCompare, said: “The decision to close 162 RBS branches is incredibly disappointing for customers and for the almost 800 staff who will lose their jobs. “As a result of this process, around 792 roles will be made redundant, and we will seek to support our colleagues with the option to leave on a voluntary basis.”

HuffPost UK understands many of the affected branches are in the north-west of England. Some 109 branches will close in late July and August 2018, while a further 53 branches will close in November 2018 - Sunderland's will close to customers on Tuesday, August 21. "You are closing my local branch, in fact all the branches within a 20 mile radius," said one, Mandy Baxter, in a tweet to RBS. RBS said the redundancies and closures were necessary because many of its branches were too close to one another - within 0.6 and 2.5 miles - and because changing consumer habits have caused a drop in footfall. Ending years of speculation, Royal Bank of Scotland has effectively turned its back on the Williams and Glyn customers and staff.”

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 in England and Wales and we've made the difficult decision to close a number of Royal Bank of Scotland branches. RBS has said that technology has been developed which means that customers of Royal Bank of Scotland can now use NatWest branches for their everyday banking, such as withdrawing cash, checking balances or paying in (and vice versa). “We now provide our customers with more ways to bank with us than ever before – customers can choose from a range of digital, face-to-face and local options to suit their needs.”

RBS also pointed out that since 2014, branch transactions across its English and Welsh operations are down 30%, while there has been a 53% increase in the number of customers using mobile banking, and mobile transactions have increased by 74%.
Following the cancellation of the Williams & Glyn bank formation, the Royal Bank of Scotland announces the closure of 162 RBS and subsidiary NatWest branches across the United Kingdom.