NatWest announces bank closures in Stamford and Oundle

The NatWest has revealed its branches in Stamford and Oundle will close next summer.

The two are among 259 Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest branches that have been earmarked for closure across the country with 680 jobs at risk.

The bank says the closures are the result of changes in the way customers do their banking which has resulted in a drop in the number of people using branches.

The Oundle branch will close on June 21 next year and the Stamford branch will shut on May 17 next year.

NatWest has not provided details on the number of jobs at risk at these two branches.

A NatWest spokesperson said: "Since 2012 we have seen the way in which people use our branches change dramatically."

The bank says in Oundle, 88 per cent of customers are already banking in other ways locally. Transactions at the NatWest Oundle branch have fallen by 29 per cent since 2012 with only 58 customers now visiting the branch on a weekly basis.

In addition, 65 per cent of its customers are now choosing to bank digitally.

In Stamford, 89 per cent of customers are already banking in other ways locally, transactions have reduced by 42 per cent since 2012 with 66 customers now visiting the branch on a weekly basis. Sixty five per cent of customers are now choosing to bank digitally.

A spokeswoman said: "Nationally, the way people bank with us has changed radically over the last few years: since 2014, the number of customers using our branches across the UK has fallen by 40 per cent.

"During the same period mobile transactions have increased by 73 per cent; and in the first half of 2017, there were 1.1 billion mobile and online transactions carried out by our customers: an increase 41 per cent since 2014."

In a separate announcement, the Yorkshire Building Society has announced that its Norwich & Peterborough branch in Hampton will close next March.

The closure is part of the society's ongoing plans to remove the N&P brand from the high street.