Santander to close more than 100 banks — but three Ayrshire branches escape axe
Ayrshire branches of Santander have been saved from the axe.The high street banking giant has announced the closure of 111 branches around the UK in a cost cutting exercise.However, Ayr's High Street branch, along with Irvine's Sandgate and the one in Kilmarnock's King Street, are not on the list of branches to close.Santander say they want to close 111 branches by the end of August 2021 and claim the move is in response to the ongoing shift by customers towards mobile and online banking.They also claim it's a long-term trend which has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.Adam Bishop, head of branches, said: “Branch usage by customers has fallen considerably over recent years so we have made the difficult decision to consolidate our