UK Banking giant Barclays says it is to cut 1,700 jobs from its branch network in the UK, the cuts come as it scales back the number of branches across the country.
Barclays blames mobile banking for job cuts
Barclays said in a statement that the way people accessed banking services was changing rapidly, with more using smart phones, mobile banking and other technology – according to BBC Business.
Explaining the move, a bank spokesperson says: “More and more people are choosing to use smart phones and technology for everyday transactions – using branches only when they need access to expertise. We are responding by investing in the channels that customers are increasingly using, whilst improving customer service.”
“As a result of technological changes, we will be able to provide better service for our customers with fewer staff in our branches. Today we have outlined a voluntary redundancy scheme for those colleagues who are interested.”
The implication of this shift in customer behaviour is that the “traditional branch model and other points of contact will become less important to customers as part of the service mix over time. And that in turn represents a significant opportunity to save cost,” the bank said.
The bank has launched a voluntary redundancy scheme and said staff would be “fully consulted” and “have access to the support… they require.”
Barclays has 1,577 branches employing 33,600 staff.
The post Barclays to cut 1,700 jobs – mobile banking to blame appeared first on Payments Cards & Mobile.
