Information on bank branch closures - September 2025

  1. Bank Closures
Number of bank branches closed in the Scottish Borders since 2000, broken down by:

     *  Year
     *  Town or village
     *  Bank name (if available)
     *  Reason for closure (if recorded)

The FCA began to collect data on bank closures in 2022 following the implementation of updated guidance which can be found here: FG22/6: Branch and ATM closures or conversions | FCA. Therefore, we do not hold data for previous years requested.

Please note that we do not record the reasons for closures as these are commercial decisions made by the relevant banks.

1. Number of cashpoints (ATMs) in the Scottish Borders since 2000, broken down by:
   
        *  Year
        *  Town or village
        *  Operator type (bank-operated, LINK network, independent)
    
2. We began to collect data on ATM access in October 2024 following the implementation of our Access to cash policy: PS24/8: Access to cash | FCA. We do not record the Operator type of ATMs. Please see a breakdown of the number of ATMs by town within the Scottish Borders below:

Please note that due to our data collection methods, some of the ATMs cited in our data may no longer be available at the time of this response. Furthermore, the ATM in Cockburnspath appears to be operational at the time of your request but is not included in our 2025 data collection. This could be for a number of reasons, for example, it was temporarily unavailable during our data collection. For a current picture of ATM availability in the Scottish Borders, please use Link’s online cash locator tool: LINK / Cash Locator

1. Number of complaints received relating to banking services in the Scottish Borders since 2000, broken down by:
   
        *  Year
        *  Nature of complaint
        *  Town or village (if available)

In line with our current Complaints Scheme, a complaint is defined as 'an expression of dissatisfaction about the manner in which the regulators have carried out, or failed to carry out, their ‘relevant functions’. For more information about this, please refer to this link: Complaints against the regulators.

The FCA does not have the powers to adjudicate individual complaints made against the firms it regulates: such adjudication powers sit with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Therefore, any complainants or enquirers expressing dissatisfaction about specific firms or individuals within the financial services sector would generally be referred to the FOS. You may find it helpful to visit the FOS website here for more information on this. 

While we log all instances when consumers call into our Customer Contact Centre, these would be recorded in our systems as contact records and would not be categorised as ‘complaints’.

In this instance, we have searched our system for cases logged as Deposit Taking/Customer service received since 2020. This has generated 15,017 individual contacts. To determine how many of these contacts contain an expression of dissatisfaction in relation to the issues you refer to and can therefore be construed as ‘complaints’, we would need to review and analyse the details of each contact on record. We are of the view that this analysis and determination would be tantamount to creating new information, which we are not required to do under FOIA.