RBS appoints personal and business banking chief digital officer

Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed a new chief digital officer to its personal and business banking (PBB) franchise in a move that the Edinburgh-based lender says signals “a fundamental shift in gear to build world class digital services for personal and small business customers”.

Frans Woelders will join RBS on 01 May, in a new role as chief digital officer, PBB, reporting to Les Matheson, CEO of personal and business banking.

Mr Woelders was formerly CEO, retail banking at ABN AMRO, where his focus was improving customer experience through development of the bank’s customer-facing digital platforms.

Under his leadership the innovative peer-to-peer payment app, Tikkie, was introduced.

Before becoming CEO retail banking, Mr Woelders was ABN AMRO’s group CIO and head of Technology.

NatWest’s mobile banking app has twice been voted the best banking app in the UK at the British Bank Awards and the paperless mortgage process for NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland customers is an example of the kind of experience the Bank’s customers should come to expect as standard.

RBS said Mr Woelders will aim to build upon this success and drive digital advancement at scale across all of the bank’s customer journeys.

Les Matheson, CEO of Personal and Business Banking, said: “These changes signal our intent to transform our business around the experiences and needs of our customers. We will do this by combining the mind-set, behaviours and approach of a fintech, with our competitive advantages; highly professional and caring colleagues, deep expertise in technology, a large existing customer base, and our great brands. The result will make banking with us effortless everyday and brilliant when it matters.”

Mr Woelders added: “I am delighted to be joining RBS as it strives to become the best bank for its customers and build upon its digital services at pace. Customers are increasingly seeking to self-serve in their own time and looking for ease and simplicity in the way they do their banking. I’m looking forward to helping RBS to build upon its already award-winning platforms.”