Businesses and individuals in Tarbert have been dealt a severe blow with the news that the only bank in the village will close.
The Bank of Scotland on Harbour Street will shut permanently on April 29.
And the branch in Bowmore on Islay will follow suit when it closes on May 8.
The news has been met by anger from local people throughout Kintyre and the islands.
It follows an equally unpopular move by the Bank of Scotland, which closed its Dunoon branch on Tuesday.
Councillor Alastair Redman of the Kintyre and the Isles ward said: “I am shocked and hugely disappointed to hear the news that the Bank of Scotland are planning to close both the Bowmore and the Tarbert branches in our local ward.”
He added: “I have had many phone calls and lots of emails from justifiably angry and upset constituents.
“I will be contacting the Bank of Scotland’s management directly and working with my colleagues to get this matter sorted out.
“I hope the Bank of Scotland sees sense and changes its mind on this damaging proposal.”
The bank blamed the closures on an increase in the number of customers using online services.
A Bank of Scotland spokesman said: “As many customers now choose to bank online or through their mobile app, visits to our Bowmore and Tarbert branches have fallen over recent years.
“The local Post Office in each town offers everyday banking, with cash also available at close by free-to-use ATMS, alongside other ways to bank such as online, phone and mobile banking services.”
Only last week the Advertiser reported that Argyll and Bute could end up ‘bankless’ in the near future after 94 per cent of the seven largest banks had closed their branches in the area in the last three years.
The study by analytics firm SAS concluded that Argyll and Bute was the second most likely area in the UK to end up bankless in 2024.
A decision to close the Dunoon branch went ahead this week despite public uproar.
More than 1,700 people signed a petition attempting to stop the Cowal closure.
That figure represents a third of the adult population of Dunoon.
A large crowd gathered in the town on Friday December 1 to present the petition to staff.
Argyll and Bute MP Brendan O’Hara delivered a rousing speech at the protest.
He said: “The Bank of Scotland’s decision to close this branch is absolutely indefensible. “Lloyd’s Banking Group made almost £2 billion profit in the last three months alone, and the cost of keeping this branch open and helping their predominately elderly customers would have been so small it would barely have registered in their accounts. This is corporate greed at its worst.
“You can see the strength of opposition there is to this in the community. I will continue to press in Parliament for a change in this ridiculous decimation of our banking services in Argyll and Bute.”
He added: “When they announced that Dunoon was to close, the Bank of Scotland advised customers to use Kilcreggan as an alternative, but we have just found out that they now intend to close Kilcreggan too, alongside Tarbert and Bowmore on Islay. The decimation of banking services here in Argyll and Bute is in full throttle.
“We need community banks, not only for those who do not use or do not have access to internet or digital banking, but we know from bitter experience that when the local bank branches go, so much else follows on behind.”
Local shopkeeper Dinah MacDonald added: “We’d been refused permission by the bank to deliver the petition to their headquarters in Edinburgh so delivered it to the local branch instead with superb support from local residents and elected officials.
“The petition has been signed in person by over 1,700 folk. Many have written, phoned and emailed the bank and all have received the same standard letter back. All the signatures are from folk who have very real concerns about the loss.
“The bank claims it is underused yet on many days the queue stretches out of the door and there is always a queue before the bank opens each morning. The petition has been signed by our MP and MSP, both of whom have written to the bank and local councillors have written a cross party joint letter.
“Many have written to the financial services ombudsman – all to no avail.”