NatWest’s Pudsey branch is NOT one of the branches earmarked for closure, The Dispatch can confirm.
The banking giant this morning announced its intention to close 62 Royal Bank of Scotland branches, and 197 NatWest branches.
This morning’s announcement led to widespread speculation that Pudsey might lose its branch.
A NatWest spokesperson confirmed all Leeds branches were unaffected by the round of closures. He added:
“More and more of our customers are choosing to do their everyday banking online or on mobile. Since 2014 the number of customers using our branches across the UK has fallen by 40% and mobile transactions have increased by 73% over the same period. Over 5 million customers now use our mobile banking app and one in five only bank with us digitally.
“We expect these branch closures to result in around 680 redundancies. We realise this is difficult news for our colleagues and we are doing everything we can to support those affected. We will ensure compulsory redundancies are kept to an absolute minimum.”