Sixty branches, some of which are the only banks in their communities, will shut, the Clydesdale's owners, National Bank of Australia has announced.

There is concern that the move will trigger a wave of copycat closures by other banks.

The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we received:

Efficiency is important. However a choice has to be made. What are our priorities to be in modern life? People or computers? Is the 'system' really serving us or are we just becoming, more and more isolated in our scramble for 'convenience', and a so-called 'desire for self containment'?
Richard Hurding, Berlin

Pretty typical of banks these days, which increasingly see the public as income sources to be exploited rather than customers to be served. Pity the government is too gutless to rein in even their wildest excesses.
Graeme Smith, Glasgow, Scotland

The concept that banks are warm cuddly animals out to help people and grow economies are long gone. What this proves once again is that we need more regional banks. Comments that banks such as RBS and HBOS are important contributors to the Scottish economy are naive. They have no impact on economic growth whatsoever. Combined profits of RBS and HBOS were around �16bn. Investment in Scottish companies from the private equity sector which these banks fund was �7m! Peanuts
Dick, Scotland

While I'm saddened by the loss of jobs, surely existing Clydesdale customers should now be thinking of taking their business to one of the Scottish Headquartered banks. This way they can protest at the treatement of the employee, while at the same time ensuring that the banking fees that they pay contributes to the overall health of the Scottish economy.
Paul, Uddingston

I've been with the St Andrews branch of the Clydesdale Bank since 1971. During that time I saw the bank neglected by its previous owners, the Midland Bank, and actively run down by the National Bank of Australia: not merely incompetent management, but as far as I can see intentional efforts to wind down the Clydesdale Bank, presumably for asset-stripping. I have stayed with the bank because of the really excellent, efficient and friendly personal service I have had from the staff at this and the Anstruther branch. Sadly the latter are now to lose their jobs.
Paul, Crail, Fife

As a former bank member, our local one closed 2/3 years ago leaving Holytown without a bank and now the post office is gone. These companies don't seem to care about local communities and the hardship caused.
Deek, Motherwell

As a Clydesdale customer living in Yorkshire - I am astounded that after so many years of being part of the same banking group as the Yorkshire Bank - they still have not managed to integrate their computer systems and services. Surely they can make savings in merging head office and IT systems between the two banks before they start closing branches all over the country?
Tommy Hughes, Keighley, England

My branch is due to close in Larbert - a community that is expanding massively and about to play host to central Scotland's new hospital. It has virtually doubled in size in 5 years, and is quickly becoming the most popular commuter town in Scotland. Now it won't even have a bank machine! Great work by the suits.
Sonny, Larbert

I feel sorry for the staff that may lose their jobs. I stood in line today at Bothwell street branch. There had to be at least 15 people in front of me waiting to be served. What kind of service will the bank be offering us in the future?
Christine, Glasgow

I bank with the Clydesdale and the branch in my town is one of the closures. However, I am not surprised as it is usually so quite. Also, I moved here from Glasgow a few years back and just kept my account with the city branch as I do all my banking on the internet. Like most things, the internet is the way forward unfortunately. Also, the Clydesdale has an arranged with the post office and I can use my local one to carry out any cash transactions. Let's face it all banks now use central points and all banking is electronic now.
john montgomery, anstruther

I also used to work for NAB in their Glasgow offices and I'm amazed they've managed to keep running as long as they have. The company had no vision and no forward thinking, money was wasted on keeping things afloat that any decent company would have abandoned. Be prepared for more news like this as the company cuts away branches to try and disguise their bad management
Mark, glasgow, scotland

Why close rural branches? Fair enough fewer people use them, but those who live in rural areas do not have much choice where they bank! Where I am originally from there is a Clydesdale branch, and not another within 100 miles (no, I'm not exaggerating). Whereas, if you close one in a city, customers of that branch would only have to travel a few more miles to get to another.
Laura, Falkirk, Scotland

I used to work for NAB in Australia and it really is no surprise. The only surprise is that it has taken them this long to do it. Despite all their rhetoric, they are a penny pinching organisation with no sense of priorities of what their staff or customers need. All too many times money would be spent in the wrong areas i.e. a new phone system which actually did less than the current system, while all the computers, faxes and photocopiers didn't work. It was all sales focussed with no resources available to service the sales that are made. More time and resources were typically spent fixing up the mistakes caused from the lack of resources for good service. The only time the resource were available to put a customers accounts in order was when the customer was moving their business elsewhere because of the poor service. Its a shame as they do have some good banking products. Just hope they don't bring in the same fees they have in Australia ... then you'll know what a rip off they can be.
A.B., Edinburgh, Scotland (ex Australia)

Until recently, I had been banking with Clydesdale for 22 years. As a customer of their head office in Edinburgh, I saw how NAB began to run it down. Closure after "efficiency" closure, archaic systems of phoning branches to check accounts, and a nightmare of bureaucracy when I lost my card. The most junior staff (all one or two at the most) were tellers dealing with the public, who had a limited knowledge of even the drawbacks of the Clydesdale. You can't change a PIN number at their ATMs! It was like banking in the 60s. The last straw came when I went to the branch on Hanover Street in central Edinburgh, 30 minutes after it closed on a Saturday afternoon to find the ATM out of order and the rank smell of stale urine! The writing was on the wall. I joined HBOS despite the old Pat Robertson mistake and have named staff I can refer to, a seat at a desk of 6 or 7 tellers, a helpful "can do" attitude. Miles better than Clydesdale. National Australia Bank should be ashamed of itself.
Andrew O'Donnell, Edinburgh

I can still praise the staff and the advice they have given. But - like other financial institutions, the 'bankers' have gone the way of other financial institutions and put greed before customer relations. Poor management judgements (like so may others before them) mean that the customer pays the price for their failures. No point in leaving, as every other bank has the same set of problems.
Bob, Edinburgh

There appear to be too many banks on the High Street all chasing the same customers. On the other hand I appreciate that those living out in the wilds may not be so fortunate and sympathise with their plight. In such cases where there is only one bank serving a community then it is that bank who should make every effort to make sure that its customers and any other bank's customers have a place to transact business, even though the service may be subsidised. For so long we have had too much choice in the UK compared to our continental friends. If we are to be able to compete on a firm footing then unfortunately difficult choices must be made. A lot of industries are consolidating these days so I say to those staff affected by this decision to realise that they are not immune to the realities of life, difficult though it may be to accept.
steve kerrigan, Dunfermline. Fife

Perhaps if they had been more efficient customers would not have moved elsewhere. For instance I had a Clydesdale Bank Business credit card but found it impossible to pay off my balance through my local branch as they said it was a completely different business. They told me to settle it through a London clearing bank but they couldn't cope and then it was changed to Leeds. As a result I stopped using the card.
James Jamieson, Larbert

I see that the Clydesdale/Yorkshire/National Bank of Australia (or whatever they want to call themselves) care more about their (potential) customers in the south east of England, than they do for customers elsewhere. Thankfully, the branches I use are not closing, but I have every sympathy for those adversely affected by the closures. Perhaps those who can do so, should vote with their feet and move their accounts to banks who care more about all their customers!!! I shall certainly be giving the matter consideration.
Fiona, Livingston, Scotland

Plain and simple - Greed. All banks (I will stand corrected) are out for one thing alone and that is to top their rivals profits at the end of quarter. Customer service has been identified as the quality that people look for in a business but it appears that NAB don't seem to care. I make a conscious effort now not to visit my banks branch as every time I am in they ask me if I would like a new mortgage, credit card or the like. Let's hope that the staff at these branches still have their jobs in 6 months time.
Alistair, Scotland

My initial concern is for those who might be facing job losses. This would be the last bank closure in Tayport, everything else is gone. Tayport is presently a sub-branch of Newport to where there is no public transport. The proposed closure confirms the socialist case for one bank, publicly owned, with services based on need rather than narrow financial considerations, open to the public at times when the public can be in the vicinity...not at work.
Keith White, Tayport, Scotland

I do most of my banking online and only really use the branches to deposit the odd birthday cheque. Well it was my partner's birthday recently and I had a few cheques to put into our joint account and because I work out of town I had to plan my route back to work carefully to pass a branch after my lunch. I found a parking space got out and to my horror the branch had been sold!! I had to drive a further five miles to deposit my cheques. Having worked in banks and building societies I know the importance of having a local branch you are the banks face, people really do want to deal with people especially in more rural areas. I have not had any problems with the Clydesdale bank at all other this.
Duncan, Aberdeen

My thoughts are with the bank staff. I've always found the Clydesdale staff to be the friendliest and most efficient. Let's hope they can get through this period of uncertainty without any forced redundancies.
Neil, Carnoustie

When I see RBS and HBOS doing so well for the financial services sector and the Scottish economy I sometimes think that Clydesdale has 'missed the boat' and an opportunity has been lost. I see Clydesdale in the future going for the small business/corporate market and slowly closing its personal lines. Evident already in their financial centres in the South East.
Ian, West Sussex

I think it is ridiculous that they are closing the Tayport Branch of the bank. Where are the pensioners supposed to bank now? How will they get to Newport, which, I hope, is not also closing down? You can withdraw money from the local post office but you cannot get any other service, including a print out of your account. I have been with the bank for over 20 years but will be thinking about changing in the future.
Sheila Clack, Tayport, Scotland

Just another symptom of the intrinsic greed that exists in business and in society as a whole. The only people who will be happy about this announcement will be the shareholders who will once again have pound signs flashing before their eyes. What about the poor customers and the employees?
David, Ayrshire

I am extremely disappointed to hear of this decision. We in Ardnamurchan, unlike Dave in Dumfries, are unable to vote with our feet: the Clydesdale is our only option. Our nearest branch is in Tobermory (on the island of Mull) and we are served by a mobile bank once a week. If we lose this, then we will have no banking facilities at all. And as for internet banking, well, maybe if we could get broadband then we might be able to consider it.
Anne, Glenborrodale, Ardnamurchan

In Dundee the Clydesdale recently closed its university branch, so turning its back on 12,500 students and several thousand university staff - the city's major growth sector. Now they have turned the branch into a financial centre, offering business services and trying to sell investments. Will this work? In this location? Of course not. The Clydesdale management no longer have any understanding of local circumstances and have locked themselves into a downward spiral. I don't expect the bank to survive in its present form.
Rob, Dundee

To paraphrase the old advert - "We are the bank that likes to say "give".
Jim Parkinson, Larbert

I'm afraid this is a sign of the times and people really should get up to speed with the way banking services are heading now. I do all of my banking over the internet, even though I have plentiful access to branches, and find it extremely efficient and time-saving. I don't think I've set foot in a branch for a couple of months. My 85-year-old grandparents do all their banking this way too and to them it's a godsend because they're too frail to walk to the local branch. We're living in 2005 now, not 1975, so get with it folks.
Lorna, Edinburgh

I think that the problem is that customers with "profitable" accounts don't use branches very much. Bank branches, like post offices tend to be used be less profitable customers. banks are not charity organisations so they see little business sense in keeping there less profitable branches open. If they reduce the costs of their branch network then they are able to pass on the benefits in higher savings rates and lower loan rates. In single bank branch towns this will have an impact.
Keith, Scotland

Sadly, consolidation is the name of the game in today's financial services world and I doubt if this is just the tip of the iceberg. The consumers champion Which? regularly compares products and services across the UK banking sector and the NAB twins Clydesdale and the Yorkshire are always poor performers. Recently, I complained about their antiquated ATMs to several bemused branch staff alas in vain. Hopefully, for the affected staff re-deployment rather than redundancy will be minds of the NAB executive.
Colin Smith, Rosyth

Obviously $2.072 billion (Australlian Dollars) was not enough money in six months for the national Australia Bank and so we lose more banks. I remember when banks used to be there for the customer and didn't charge people to get access to their own money (in ATMs). This is ridiculous laying off all these workers. I will be voting with my feet.
Dave, Dumfries

The Clydesdale Bank have suffered from a lack of investment for many years. They are using archaic systems that were introduced in the Eighties and I wouldn't be surprised if NAB pulled the plug completely in the future.
Mark, Glasgow

NAB and Clydesdale are the best banks i have ever dealt with. Using NAB in Sydney, Australia made my holiday so much smoother. Back home, I change changed from BoS and would never go back. I am unaffected by the closures but I am sorry to the people who will be.
Kyle Kerr, Glasgow

I think this is symptomatic of modern day banking. I was in the Bank (HBOS) yesterday and noticed that you are no longer able to withdraw sums under �300 from the counter - you must use the ATM. I think this is terrible, particularly for some older people who do not like using ATMs. Long gone are the days when people go to their local branch to do small time banking. It's all about call centres, telephone banking and selling loans nowadays.
Fiona Bell, St.Andrews, Fife

Yet another example of corporate greed from an industry whose sole agenda is profit and lots of it. Customer service? Never given a consideration. Gone are the days of the Clydesdale Bank when it had a reputation of being the businessman's bank, when it looked after its customers and sometimes staff too, when it could make profits without effort, when it could afford to innovate and to effectively become the first bank with an online counter system. Then again, that was when it was under Midland Bank control and more or less, left to its own highly profitable devices. Following Midland's failed attempts at world domination via such black holes as the Wells Fargo fiasco, it was punted off to the Aussies, well known for their banking skills. Well, perhaps not. NAB simply raped it for all it was worth. Installing inept Australian book-keepers in executive positions hardly helped nor did the timid local executives who were afraid to say boo. What we now have a most unusual situation - a bank in Scotland with profits in freefall despite previous attempts at gutting expenses, comparatively few branches and soon to become fewer, effectively little more than an financial call centre with a few cheque cashing shops and a couple of trendy business centres. The old boys in St Vincent Place will be rolling (in cash) in their graves.
Ian Paterson, Glasgow

Stop them printing Scottish bank notes if they are so concerned about costs. I guess they don't print them anywhere else in the world?
Lawrence, Edinburgh

I opened my first bank account with the Clydesdale Bank almost 37 years ago when I got my first grant cheque as a student. I have seen my local branch's hours cut, bank staff made to act as salespersons and generally poorer centralised services. The only thing that keeps me and my family (six separate accounts) with the Clydesdale has been the friendliness of the staff within my branch. If that branch goes, so do our accounts!
Anne, East Renfrewshire

It's a symptom of the modern way to use internet banking, online services etc. Personally I only rarely venture into a branch of my bank. Virtually all of my transactions are online and cash withdrawals at machines (and not always of my own bank). It's the age old thing that if it's not used then it won't be provided.
Eddie, Aberdeen

For some time now NAB have focused their attention on growing what is deemed the more lucrative markets in the south of England. It is a classic case of putting all the eggs in one basket and if this approach fails to meet the promises made to the Australian board a complete NAB pullout from the UK could happen sooner rather than later.
Steve Jones, Glasgow