RBS 2005 Annual Report Download - page 45

Divisional review
43
2005
In 2005 Manufacturing redesigned
its operations so that more
customers’ queries are resolved
by the first person they contact
and errors are reduced. Good
progress was made with the
integration of Ulster Bank onto the
Group’s platform. Manufacturing’s
purchasing and property
operations were benchmarked as
“World Class” during the year.
 Our network of over 7,400 ATMs processed
690 million transactions during 2005. The daily
average volume was 1.9 million transactions,
dispensing £119 million.
 In 2005 we reduced the time it takes for a
customer to receive a fully operational debit card
after loss or theft from 12 days to within three days.
 Manufacturing processed 262,000 new
mortgage applications and 61,000 extra borrowing
mortgage applications for Group customers.
 During 2005 we introduced a programme
called ‘Lean’ across our operations. Developed in
the Japanese car industry and used worldwide,
‘Lean’ is a customer-focused approach that uses
targeted tools and techniques to remove waste,
improve the flow of work and improve customer
service.
 Broadening the skills of our teams in our
telephone and service centres, and changing their
incentives, has generated a more responsive
working culture. Customers enjoy better service
because we try to solve as many issues for them
as we can in a single phone call.
 We now have dedicated centres dealing
with corporate customers – helping to make the
Group one of the top service providers for
corporate and commercial customers in 2005.
 In November 2005 a new Tesco Personal
Finance Centre was created in Glasgow bringing
together telephony, loans and savings functions
under one management team. Combining these
areas has created efficiencies and improved
service to customers by giving people in the Centre
a greater understanding of the full range of products
and services offered to customers.
 The Group’s ‘Fraud Ring Task Force’ tackles
the growing threat of ‘fraud rings’ – fraud cases
linked together which can fund terrorism and
organised crime. This team is already creating
considerable benefit for the Group in the early
identification and closure of fraud ring activity.
 The Group remains focused on reducing
the threats associated with electronic attacks like
phishing – used by fraudsters to try to obtain
customers’ security details over the Internet.
During 2005 we experienced one of the lowest
number of successful phishing attacks in the UK
banking industry.
 In 2005 the key technology systems
supporting branches and other parts of the
Group were available 99.95% of the time.
Make it happen
Determination