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The Royal Bank of Scotland was founded in 1727. By 1900 it had over 130 branches in Scotland and had opened its first branch in London. During the 1920s and 30s it established a significant presence in England through the acquisition of Glyn, Mills and Williams Deacon’s. By 1970, having merged with the National Commercial Bank of Scotland, it was the leading bank in Scotland, with over 700 branches. During the 1980s RBS diversified its business, pioneering the direct distribution of motor insurance through the establishment of Direct Line in 1985, and entering US banking in 1988 with the acquisition of Citizens Bank of Rhode Island. In the 1990s RBS re-engineered its retail banking business, removing processing activities from branches, and segmenting the Bank’s customers and associated service propositions. Over the same period RBS developed and implemented its multi-brand, multiple channel strategy, launching Direct Banking in 1994, and the UK’s first comprehensive internet banking service in 1997, together with financial services operations in partnership with Virgin and Tesco in the same year. In 2000 RBS successfully completed the £21 billion acquisition of NatWest, the biggest takeover in British banking history, creating a Group with over 20 million customers, £400 billion assets and 110,000 employees worldwide. The NatWest integration was completed successfully in February 2003, with the original targets for cost savings and revenue benefits exceeded. Since the acquisition of NatWest, RBS has continued to grow the business through the combination of strong organic growth and acquisitions. In the US, Citizens’ footprint has been expanded from the New England into the Mid-Atlantic states through the acquisition of the Mellon Bank regional franchise, and into the Midwest through the acquisition of Charter One, completed in 2004. Citizens is now one of the top ten US commercial banking organisations by deposits. In insurance, the acquisition of Churchill broadened the product and distribution channel capabilities of Direct Line and created the second largest general insurer in the UK. In corporate banking, RBS has entered the US, Continental European and Asia Pacific markets. In August 2005, RBS signed strategic investment and co-operation agreements with Bank of China, the second largest bank in China. |
