RBS to close 6 of 10 branches from October 1

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced the closure of six retail branches, out of 10, in the country from October 1.

The RBS branches in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Noida, and Vadodara will be closed with effect from October 1, the RBS said in a notice to its customers.

"The remaining four RBS branches (Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, and New Delhi) will close in due course after intimation," it added.

The British lender, which has been in India since 1921, also asked the customers to close their account(s) and make alternate arrangements for banking, wealth management, and demat account(s) on or before August 31.

Further, no new savings/current account(s) or term deposit(s) will be opened from July 31.

In May, RBS had announced to initiate a phased exit from retail banking and close down branches in India. The decision to wind up retail banking was in the making ever since the Reserve Bank of India refused to clear the sale of its branches (then 16) to HSBC India a few years ago. One of the main reasons for the regulatory refusal was HSBC's decision against converting its branch banking route into a fully-owned subsidiary route as it already has nearly 50 branches.

The RBS group is a large international banking and financial services company. From its headquarters in Edinburgh, the group serves more than 30 million customers in the United Kingdom, Europe, West Asia (the Middle East), the Americas, and Asia.