RBS 2006 Annual Report Download - page 40

RBS Group • Annual Report and Accounts 2006 39
■Our corporate responsibility is aligned with the interests of our customers,
employees and shareholders. We succeed as a group by undertaking our
business in a responsible and sustainable way.
In 2006 we have strengthened the extent, rigour
and reporting of our consultation with our stake-
holders. The issues that matter most to them provide
the focus of our Corporate Responsibility strategy.
Our priorities in 2006 were promoting financial
inclusion and capability; protecting our customers
and shareholders against crime and fraud;
managing our people to a global benchmark;
adopting the revised Equator Principles and
improving the environmental impact of our
operations. Moreover we continue to invest heavily
in the communities in which we serve around the
world through our charitable engagement and
through supporting the causes our staff care about.
Financial Inclusion
■We are committed to maintaining our branch network,
and now have the largest number of branches and the
largest network of free-to-use ATMs in the UK. We also
increased our fleet of mobile branches in 2006 to 17,
which visit 334 rural communities each week.
■We joined a working party with Treasury Select Committee
Chairman John McFall to review financial inclusion and the
availability of free-to-use ATMs in low-income areas. In
2006 we offered 300 more free-to-use ATMs in both rural
and deprived areas. A further 200 are planned for 2007.
■In 2006, over 200,400 Step and Key accounts were
opened, bringing the total number of basic bank accounts
to over 930,800. This makes RBS the leading provider of
basic bank accounts that are accessible at Post Offices.
■RBS is the largest corporate sponsor of the Money
Advice Trust, through a six-year commitment to a £3.68 million
partnership. During 2006 we extended our support for a
further three years, providing an additional £2.15 million.
This allows the Trust to improve the quality of face-to-face
money advice delivered through organisations such as the
Citizens Advice Bureau, and has provided training for
5,000 advisers each year.
Financial Capability
■Our Face2Face with Finance™ (F2F) programme is
the largest financial education programme for schools
in the UK. RBS provides curriculum-related teaching
resources accredited by pfeg, the FSA’s educational
charity. In 2006, 450,000 pupils from 1,400 schools took
part in lessons led by 550 RBS and NatWest employees.
■We launched School Money, the school bank, from
the Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest, and committed
to opening 100 school banks in inner city schools in 2007.
These school banks are set up and run by pupils for pupils
and aim to establish a savings habit.
■In May 2006 we launched our Managing Your Money
websites providing consumers with free access to skills,
tools and advice to help them understand and manage
their money.