Once considered to be the best for student accounts, a student website ranked NatWest as the fourth best offer, being beaten by the likes of Santander and the Co-Operative bank. Official letters from NatWest sent out to customers stated that the 'decision to close the branch hasn't been an easy one', but it was felt that the time was right, as customers are 'increasingly finding different ways to do their banking' and are choosing not to visit the branch. NatWest also indicated that the number of customers using the branch had drastically decreased over the last five years. However, customers were encouraged to try alternate methods of banking in order to lessen the impact of the closure, such as telephone, mobile or online-banking. Customers may also use the nearest branch in the city-centre, on Church Street, if they prefer to bank in person.