Burnley town centre bank to close

The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced it is to close its branch in St James's Street on November 22nd.

An RBS spokesman said: "Closing a branch is a decision we take very seriously. We know it can affect people in the local area and we’ll always work hard to guide customers through the changes and find the best way to serve them.

"The world of banking has changed a lot lately and the changes show no sign of slowing down. These are some of the things we’re experiencing that mean we can’t offer the same number of branches as we have in the past:

• More people are doing their day-to-day banking online, by mobile app, or over the phone;

• More people are even doing bigger things that way, like opening a business account or getting a loan;

• Fewer people visit branches and do fewer transactions when they’re there;

• People often use a branch that is more convenient to them, and not one branch consistently;

• People contact us in a variety of ways and today very few people only do their banking in a branch.

The RBS group, which incorporates NatWest, will keep its NatWest branch in Howe Walk, Burnley, open.