RBS 2005 Annual Report Download - page 26

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Retail Markets
Retail Markets continued
Retail Banking provides customers with a choice of when and how they do their
banking through access to branches, a 24-hour telephone banking service, a
network of ATMs and a full internet banking service.
 The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest
attracted more than 135,000 new Stakeholder
Child Trust Funds during 2005, making us one
of the key providers of this product.
 Partly through its network of 54 campus
branches, NatWest yet again achieved No.1 status
for student accounts. Of first-year students in
England and Wales, 44% chose to open a student
account with us.
 The Royal Bank of Scotland launched First
Home Saver, a new savings account designed to
help customers get onto the property ladder by
encouraging them to save regularly for the deposit,
and by giving a tax-free bonus on taking out a
Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage.
 In September 2005, Royal Bank of Scotland
Business was voted No.1 for service to small business
customers in Scotland.
 Mentor, our Business Advice Service for
Employment Law, Health & Safety and Tax, reached
more than 15,000 customers last year. It is the
fastest-growing service of its type in the UK and
increased income by 18% whilst delivering significant
improvements to our proposition, including training
in Health & Safety and Employment Law.
 Loans to our small business customers
were up 9% in 2005. Deposits by small business
customers, taking advantage of our competitive
range of products, grew by 4%.
 13,000 customers have opened a Flexible
Business Loan, our market-leading product that
enables business customers to customise their
loan. They can choose from a range of options at
the start of their loan, and can then update their
choices if their circumstances alter. We also
launched Client Money Services, a unique product
that enables our business customers to manage
their client funds simply and easily.
Retail Direct has leading positions in the UK
in credit card issuing, merchant acquiring,
consumer finance and supermarket banking.
In 2005 Retail Direct increased its total income
by 11% to £1,966 million.
 Retail Direct’s Credit Cards business is
one of Europe’s leading issuers of personal and
commercial credit cards, as well as one of the
major global merchant acquirers.
 The personal cards issuing business issues
personal credit cards to customers of The Royal
Bank of Scotland and NatWest primarily through
branches, and also to non-banked customers using
the MINT brand through direct channels.
 During 2005, we introduced an enhanced
credit card offer for The Royal Bank of Scotland
and NatWest brand cards, with preferential pricing
for current account holders. In addition, the MINT
brand continued to improve the quality and breadth
of service it offers to customers by launching motor
and home insurance.
 The commercial cards business has
maintained its leading position in the UK. It offers a
range of corporate cards, purchasing cards and
travel solutions to a broad range of businesses. It
enhanced its services by including ‘Smart data
online’ as part of the onecard package. This allows
business customers to receive and analyse all
transaction data centrally.
Make it happen