Moray's MSP tells Bank of Scotland about concerns over mobile service withdrawal
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Moray's MSP has met with Bank of Scotland representatives to raise concerns about the withdrawal of their mobile service.
After May the bank will stop providing its fortnightly mobile service to towns and villages on its Elgin route.
The communities affected will be Portsoy, Cullen, Keith, Fochabers, Burghead, Lossiemouth and Aberlour.
Richard Lochhead states that during his meeting he urged bank officials to do all they can to ensure that residents continue to have regular access to services.
He said: "Many constituents and businesses across Moray will have been concerned to hear that the Bank of Scotland plan to withdraw their mobile banking van from the area in May.
"While there may be post offices which can provide banking services in most of the impacted towns and villages, many elderly and vulnerable folk will only just have got to grips with using the mobile branch. So yet another change in how they bank will be significant for them.
"I pressed the Bank of Scotland to ensure that they redouble their efforts to make sure that all of their customers can continue to access accessible banking services.
"Like what happened in Forres, there is a case for investigating locations for more banking hubs in one or more of the communities affected.
"This latest reduction in face-to-face banking services highlights the importance of tackling financial exclusion and ensuring help is available for people.
"There remains a need for the UK Government to step in and ensure access to banking in rural areas like Moray is provided more protection."
The banking hub in Forres is currently located within the Moray Firth Credit Union on the High Street.
There are plans to open a permanent hub within what used to be the Clydesdale Bank on the High Street, although a date has yet to be confirmed.
The Bank of Scotland is also set to stop going to towns and villages on its Inverurie route.
The communities affected will be Turriff, New Pitsligo, Insch, Alford, Huntly, Portlethen, Aboyne, Kingswells and Westhill.
