THE Royal Bank of Scotland says it will close 259 branches and cut 680 jobs across two of their banking brands.
The bank said the move was to reduces costs and encourage customers to use online and mobile services.
The closures involve 62 Royal Bank of Scotland and 197 NatWest branches.
RBS is also the parent company to Ulster Bank, who operate in Northern Ireland and the Republic, and is not affected by the cuts.
RBS said it would try to ensure compulsory redundancies were "kept to an absolute minimum."
"We realise this is difficult news for our colleagues and we are doing everything we can to support those affected," the bank said.
An RBS spokesperson said: "More and more of our customers are choosing to do their everyday banking online or on mobile.
"Since 2014 the number of customers using our branches across the UK has fallen by 40% and mobile transactions have increased by 73% over the same period.
"Over 5 million customers now use our mobile banking app and one in five only bank with us digitally."
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