TSB to shut in Keith
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THE TSB will pull out of Keith during July due to a lack of footfall in the branch.
The bank is set to write to its customers on Monday to announce the closure, but is has already been confirmed in a letter written to Moray's MP Douglas Ross.
A TSB employee wrote: "Our customers are using banking services in different ways and the way they bank has and continues to change.
"That is why we try to adapt our offer with our customers and remain focused on offering focused on offering a brilliant service however a customer chooses to bank.
"But in Keith our branch is no longer financially viable due to lower footfall and we have had to make the difficult decision to close."
The letter continues by saying there will be no job losses.
I t added: "Overall there has been a seven per cent decrease in the number of customers using the Keith branch.
"Sixty per cent of our Keith customers use at least one other TSB branch and 73 per cent use online, mobile or telephone banking services.
"we will be proactively reaching out to customers who are the most vulnerable to branch closures to ensure they receive the assistance they need to continue accessing TSB banking services."
The nearest TSB branch to Keith is 12 miles away in Buckie.
The local post office is on the same street.
Commenting on the upcoming closure, Mr Ross said: “This is yet another blow for Keith just months after Bank of Scotland announced they were closing their branch in the town.
“I’m extremely disappointed that customers won’t be informed about this until after Easter. It seems like other banks, TSB care little about customer care given the decision to close this branch and the shoddy way they are conveying this information to their customers.
“I’ve been told that 30 per cent of TSB customers in Keith are aged 65 and over and this is a group that are less likely to use alternative banking methods and will be disproportionately affected by the closure.
“For both individual and business customers in the town this is a highly regrettable move by TSB and once again we see banks taking communities in Moray for granted. In the space of just a few months, Keith will go from having three banks to only one.
“I continue to raise the impact of bank closures with UK Government ministers as I believe they have to do more to protect banks in areas such as Moray and other parts of Scotland and the UK.
“But the banks also have to step up and meet the needs of their customers. They should have a moral obligation to provide services in local communities. Instead they are closing a branch with no consultation and little consideration for their customers while expecting them to bank at different locations - sometimes a considerable distance away - or move to online banking which is not suitable or acceptable for every customer.”
