BANKING giant NatWest is closing its Yate branch later this year.
The company, one of the ‘Big Four’ UK high street banks, announced today that its branch in Yate Shopping Centre’s North Walk (pictured above) will shut on September 25.
It is one of 55 closures announced by NatWest, just over a week after it returned to full private ownership when the government sold its final shares at the end of May.
Thornbury and Yate MP Claire Young said the decision was “incredibly disappointing”, and would leave only Lloyds, Halifax and Nationwide in the shopping centre.
Nearest branch will be 9 miles away
NatWest is recommending customers who want to continue banking in person use its Filton branch, which is nine miles away, its Kingswood branch, which is nearly ten miles away, or its Bristol city centre branch, which is more than 11 miles away.
The company said: “Banking has changed dramatically in recent years, with an increased demand for mobile and online services, as our customers benefit from a faster and easier way to bank.
“Closing a branch is a decision we take very seriously.
“We know it can affect those less confident with alternatives we offer.”
Customer usage down 61%
NatWest says the number of personal banking customers using the Yate branch has fallen by 61% in the past five years, and it is used by an average of 123 personal and 61 business customers each month.
It says 73% of personal banking customers with accounts at Yate also use online banking or its mobile app.
Two of the other ‘Big Four’ banks, Barclays and HSBC, closed their Yate branches in 2021.
NatWest closed its Chipping Sodbury branch in 2018.
It has sent a guide for Yate customers affected by the closure, offering details of alternatives.
These include the town’s main post office, which also has an uncertain future after Post Office Ltd announced plans to transfer it to a franchisee.
Fears for ‘older and more vulnerable’ customers
Ms Young said: “It is incredibly disappointing to hear of yet another bank branch closure in Yate.
“It leaves customers with a long journey if they want to go to a Nat West branch, which will particularly affect their older and more vulnerable customers.
“Although using the Post Office is an option for banking, we are yet to hear what the plans are for Yate Post office. NatWest’s decision makes it all the more important that it stays in Yate Shopping Centre.”
Bailout cost taxpayers £10.5bn
In 2008-9, the government pumped £45.5 billion of taxpayers’ money into NatWest’s then parent group, RBS.
The government says the move saved RBS from collapse, protected its 40 million customers around the world and “prevented the UK economy and financial system from going over the edge”.
When it announced the sale of the government’s final shares, the Treasury said £35bn had been recovered through share sales, dividends and fees.
A Treasury spokesperson said: “While this is around £10.5 billion less than the original support, the alternative would have been a collapse with far greater economic costs and social consequences.
“The Office for Budget Responsibility are clear on this point: the cost of doing nothing would almost certainly have been far greater than the difference between the capital injected and proceeds returned.
“Allowing the bank to fail would have devastated people’s savings, mortgages and livelihoods — and shattered confidence in the UK’s financial system.”