Business leaders are crying foul at the decision to close 100 branches of Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks.
National Australia Bank (NAB), the owner of the companies, will shut 60 Clydesdale Bank branches and 40 Yorkshire Bank sites over the next 18 months.
Most closures are believed to be in small and rural locations, leading business groups to speculate on the future of enterprise in these small towns.
"The closures will not only hit bank customers but also other businesses that are located in towns where branches are closing," said John Walker, policy chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
"Around a third of all small businesses are cash dependent and have a real need for a bank branch in their local community," he added. "Hotels, pubs, restaurants, shops, wholesalers and garages all deal with cash and need somewhere to bank their takings at the end of the working day."
Trade unions believe the cuts will hit 30 communities in Scotland hardest, where the Glasgow-based Clydesdale is the only bank in town.
"The nightmare scenario is that there will be a domino effect as customers lose an important reason for coming to a town, forcing other shops and businesses to close down, too," said Walker.
NAB is shedding the UK branches in an effort to make up for a 12.5% drop in its half-year results.
NAB's Scottish chief executive John Stewart cited research showing changing needs of its customers. Three-quarters of the bank's customers, he said, do not use a branch at all, and 11% have used a branch once.
