Banking giant Santander have confirmed that they are to close their branch in Renfrew.
The planned closure will be the third bank branch to close in Renfrew since June 2017, following Clydesdale and RBS.
Across the UK, Santander will close 140 branches with the Renfrew bank due to close on Thursday 18th July 2019.
The nearest branch will now be at Paisley High Street, Glasgow Argyle Street and Newton Mearns in East Renfrewshire.
Politicians have slammed the decision with Gavin Newlands, SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North one of the first to hit out.
Mr Newlands, said: “I was deeply concerned to learn of the imminent closure of the Renfrew Santander branch as 1 of 140 closures across the UK. This is certainly a disappointing situation for Santander customers in Renfrew and the surrounding area, but will be a body blow to the branch employees themselves.
“Despite moves towards online and telephone banking, people, particularly the elderly, still need access to physical bank branches. In writing to Santander to express my dismay at the closure I have asked if they have taken this fully into account before deciding to close the branch.
“In their explanation, Santander cited that Post Offices now provide many basic banking services. However, carrying out these services puts a serious financial strain on Post Offices as the paltry fees they receive for their work doesn’t cover the actual cost of providing the service. We cannot expect our local Post Offices to pick up the slack for large banks that up sticks and close their branches. I strongly urge Santander to reconsider this closure.”
Derek Mackay, MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, said: “I am very disappointed to discover that Santander are to close their Renfrew branch in my constituency in July. This is one of 15 branches they plan to close across Scotland.
“This is a branch not only used by people from Renfrew, it is also used by people from Erskine, Inchinnan, Bishopton and beyond.
“It is also another well used ATM potentially being removed from the town.
“I have written bosses seeking more information, including details on their plans for the ATMs currently at the site.”
Ross Greer, Green MSP for West of Scotland submitted a parliamentary motion yesterday expressing solidarity with workers whose jobs are under threat and with communities who will lose a vital local service.
Greer, said: “This closure will cause real disruption and inconvenience for many of Santander’s customers and it will further isolate elderly customers in particular, who are unable to travel miles to the next branch and who cannot access online banking. Bank branches are a vital part of most communities but they are rapidly disappearing. This is the inevitable result of a largely unregulated private banking industry more interested in its own bottom line than in customer service.
“I have written to Santander hope that, in conjunction with staff and their unions, they can work to find alternative solutions which protect local jobs and banking services.”
Susan Allen, Head of Retail and Business Banking, said: “The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels. As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity.
“We will support customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs. We are also working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles for those impacted wherever possible.”
“We continue to believe that branches have a vital role to play and we will be refurbishing 100 of our branches over the next two years. We are confident that following these changes we will have the right branch network to serve our customers’ changing needs, and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future.
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