The UK's NatWest Branch is recruiting more than 1000 new cashiers and customer services staff as part of an ongoing investmest in its national branch network.
NatWest says along with the additional 1000 recruits, it will employ 17,300 staff in its branches across England, Scotland and Wales, with no jobs outsourced overseas.
Benny Higgins, chief executive of NatWest retail banking, says: "It is vital that customers have the choice in how they deal with us, be it through branches, over the telephone, ATMs, or the internet."
The bank abolished its branch closure programme in March 2000 following its takeover by Royal bank of Scotland and is currently investing £150 million in a five-year refurbishment programme designed to improve access, cut waiting times and provide more private interview space at each of its 1640 retail outlets.
NatWest cites research from Datamonitor that shows more than two thirds of current account customers visited a branch during a three month period last year.
Other research released by the analyst last year predicts that European branch renewal expenditure will grow at an annual growth rate of 9.6% between 2002 and 2005, totalling almost $1bn by 2005.