Royal Bank of Scotland Branch Closures
Debate between Michael Shanks and Deidre Brock(6 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Deidre Brock
Yes, the hon. Gentleman is quite right, and there are delays around those hubs, which I will reference later in my speech.
Research from Which? Found that 65% of consumers would find life difficult without the option to access their bank branch. Age UK says that four out of 10 over-65s do not manage their money online. We also know that paper documents are just preferred by many people, and can help them keep track of their finances better.
Michael Shanks (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab)
I thank the hon. Lady for bringing the debate, and for being incredibly generous in giving way so much during a half-hour debate. She has mentioned selective statistics being spun. The Rutherglen branch is also earmarked for closure. I stood outside it and heard, particularly from older people, that they were being told to go into the branch to use the app. This then generated statistics to make it appear as though people were transferring from using physical tools to digital tools, even though they had gone into the branch. Does the hon. Lady agree that the problem is that the bank has been dressing up statistics about branch use to try to sell the argument that it should close the branch?