Virgin Money has announced plans to close 12 branches in Scotland

The company said the number of customers using bank branches for day-to-day transactions has been on a downward trajectory across the UK banking industry for a number of years and that this has been further accelerated by the pandemic.

A further 18 stores will be closing across the UK, with branches shutting in early 2022.

Virgin Money said it intends to find alternative roles for staff wherever possible but that some will be at risk of redundancy.

It is expected that the changes will result in a reduction of around 112 full time equivalent roles across the group around the UK.

Fergus Murphy, group customer experience director at Virgin Money, said: “As our customers change the way they want to bank with us and conduct fewer transactions in-store, we must continue to evolve the role of our stores into places where we showcase our products and bring our digital services to life.”

The branches due to close in Scotland are in Airdrie, Banchory, Broughty Ferry, Cumbernauld, East Kilbride, Galashiels, Milngavie, Musselburgh, Oban, Portree, Stenhousemuir and Wick.

Virgin Money said that each store was assessed on an individual basis, with careful consideration of the impact on the local area, the needs of vulnerable customers and the accessibility of alternative services such as free-to-use ATMs and the Post Office.

All of the closing stores are located less than a third of a mile away from the nearest Post Office.

Customers can use Post Offices for day‐to-day banking, including cash deposits and withdrawals, cheque deposits and balance inquiries, as well as coin exchange.

Following the changes, Virgin Money will have a network of 131 branches across the UK.