Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (LON:RBS) said on Tuesday it will close 162 branches in England and Wales, leading to nearly 792 job cuts.
The branch closures are in response to an increasing number of customers using online banking, the bank said.
The lender added that many of its branches were too close to one another after scrapping plans to split off Williams & Glyn.
“We are no longer launching Williams & Glyn as a challenger bank, and we now have two branch networks operating in close proximity to each other; NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland, in England & Wales,” RBS said.
“As a result we have had to review our overall branch footprint in England and Wales and we’ve made the difficult decision to close a number of Royal Bank of Scotland branches.
"Customers of Royal Bank of Scotland in England & Wales will be able to use NatWest branches instead for their everyday banking needs."
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The European Commission had previously told RBS it needed to sell Williams & Glyn as a condition of the bank’s 2008 government bailout.
But after being unable to find a buyer for W&G, RBS agreed an alternative solution with the EU in September last year that included spending £835mln to support challenger banks who lend to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Williams & Glyn 'saga rolls on', says Unite
The latest branch closures follow existing plans to shut 52 branches in Scotland that serve rural communities.
Rob MacGregor, national officer of Unite union, said: “The Williams & Glyn saga rolls on as Royal Bank of Scotland continues with its shambolically poor management of this business.
"How does a taxpayer-funded institution spend £1.8bn on a failed IT project and in the next breath demolish the much-needed local bank branches?”
RBS chief executive Ross McEwan defended the company’s closure of Scottish branches on Friday, pointing to a decline in branch transactions.
Similarly, sector peer Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) has been closing branches and focusing on improving its digital offering as more customers switch to online and telephone banking.
READ: Lloyds to close 49 branches, cut 305 jobs in UK
Last month the lender announced it would close 49 branches within the Lloyds and Halifax network.