RBS under fire for ‘no targets’ for mobile banking app claim
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Royal Bank of Scotland has come under fire and could be accused of misleading parliament over claims as to whether the bank has targets for signing customers up to mobile banking.
At the hearing of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee last week RBS chief executive Ross McEwan dodged direct questions from the Chair regarding performance related targets while Managing Director, Personal Banking Jane Howard stated explicitly that “we do not have targets” for signing up customers to internet banking, including the mobile app.
The Scottish Affairs Committee has now written to Ross McEwan, chief executive of RBS following reports which they feel call into question evidence he gave to the MSPs over its decision to shut 52 branches in Scotland, with a further 10 under threat.
The bank has come under fire because their principal argument for branch closures is that they are only following changes in customer behaviour.
However, the leaked RBS document reportedly shows there were performance related targets for RBS staff for signing customers up to mobile banking apps, suggesting the bank is driving the change in customer behaviour.
Labour MP and member of the Scottish Affairs Select committee Ged Killen said: “Repeatedly RBS has told us that it does not have performance related targets for signing up customers to online banking. However, this internal RBS document leaked to Scottish Labour clearly shows otherwise.
“At the committee hearing Ross McEwan was very clear that he was closing branches because of choices made by customers. However, these performance related targets show that RBS has in fact been manufacturing consent for these branch closures rather than running a customer focused business.
“It’s quite clear that RBS is not interested in the needs of Scottish customers and I have no doubt that they will close the 10 branches they have given a stay of execution to irrespective of how they are used.
“RBS has time and time again shown that it is not responding to the needs of the customer or the wider public whose taxes bailed them following the financial crisis but instead the needs of private shareholders who want to see the bank re-privatised.”
An RBS spokesman described the leaked document as referring to an objective, not a goal.
They said: “When Ross McEwan was asked about whether staff have targets for the adoption of mobile and online banking, he did not deny this and openly acknowledged that we ask our colleagues to have those conversations with customers so that they are aware of all the different ways that they can bank with us, this includes telephony, face to face and digital banking.
“In 2016, we removed financial incentives for colleagues to hit sales targets - the first of the major banks to do so.”
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