Lochgilphead loses last bank as elderly residents panic
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- Maggie Dodd, 84, a Bank of Scotland customer since 1976, said she "couldn't sleep" upon learning her nearest branch will be 37.2 miles away in Oban, and has partnered with 83-year-old friend Ina Callander to bank at the post office
- Lloyds Banking Group said the Lochgilphead branch is "no longer viable" as most customers prefer online banking; the Lochgilphead closure is one of 28 Bank of Scotland branches shutting this year
- Adriano Pia, who runs the Argyll Café, said cards and cash machines aren't reliable — "even today we had two people whose cards aren't working" — and he has sometimes let people take food without paying so they don't go hungry
- Scott McBride, manager of the Community Shop charity, warned the closure will force them to extend insurance to hold more cash on-site, raising costs and risk
- Link rejected Argyll and Bute Council's bid for a Banking Hub, saying the area was "already well served" with free ATMs and a post office — but sub-postmaster Anna Dudziak said the post office has withdrawal, deposit, and cheque limits it cannot override, leading to daily anger from customers
- 742 bank branches have closed across Scotland since 2015, according to Which?, with the Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber constituency losing 25 branches and Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross losing 30
- The UK government is conducting a review into access to face-to-face banking, due to report in October
Why it matters: Lochgilphead's experience exposes a gap between banks' official pivot to digital/Post Office services and what the Post Office can actually deliver: sub-postmaster Dudziak says transaction limits leave customers angry daily, and business owners say card and ATM reliability is already patchy. With 742 Scottish branches gone since 2015 and Link rejecting hub bids, the pattern is accelerating before the government's October review on face-to-face access reports.
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