Bank of Scotland to close Lochgilphead branch, ending town's last bank

Lochgilphead is about to lose its last bank, and for 84-year-old Maggie Dodd the news landed as more than a nuisance. Bank of Scotland has confirmed its branch on Poltalloch Street, the town’s final remaining bank, will close permanently on 22 June 2026, ending in-person banking in the administrative centre of Argyll and Bute.

The closure strips out a service many residents still depend on for cash withdrawals, deposits, cheque handling, foreign currency and face-to-face help with digital banking. Bank of Scotland says customers can use any Bank of Scotland, Lloyds or Halifax branch for everyday banking, along with the Post Office, cash machines, PayPoint stores, online banking and the mobile app. But the nearest alternative branch is not in Lochgilphead, raising a familiar rural problem: access may exist on paper, yet still be difficult for older residents, cash-reliant traders and people without easy transport.

Lochgilphead is a small town of about 2,300 to 2,500 people, and its role as the administrative centre of Argyll and Bute Council gives the loss wider weight than a simple branch closure. For businesses that handle cash and for residents who have not fully moved to digital services, the branch has doubled as a practical local utility. The bank’s own review said staff helped some customers set up online banking, reflecting how many people still need personal support before they can shift to remote channels.

Bank of Scotland said LINK completed a Cash Access Assessment before the closure, part of the process now used to measure access to cash when a branch shuts. The bank also said it contacted the local MP for Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber, the local MSP for Argyll and Bute, the Post Office, the National Federation of Sub Postmasters, the local Citizens Advice Bureau and the local Chamber of Commerce. That consultation underlines how the closure reaches beyond one branch and into the town’s wider civic and commercial life.

The bank said Lochgilphead colleagues held a digital support event and offered free one-to-one help through the Digital Helpline. Even so, the decision leaves the town with a stark test of the digital-banking era: whether online services can truly replace a branch in a rural place where the nearest in-person option is elsewhere.