RBS and NatWest push ‘most helpful bank’ promise in ads
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NatWest and RBS customers are being promised that they are banking with the most helpful banks in the country as they launch a 14-point customer charter guaranteeing the minimum levels of service they can expect.
Among the points in the Customer Charter is a promise to serve the majority of customers within five minutes by introducing a “queue measurement tool” for its busiest branches; extending branch hours in locations where a NatWest or RBS branch is the only bank left in town; and opening other branches for longer and on Saturdays.
The new charter was drawn up after a consultation with 30,000 customers. It is being advertised with a national campaign pushing the “helpful banking” message. The campaign has been created by M&C Saatchi.
Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns RBS and NatWest, is 84% owned by the government after public money was used to stop it from collapsing at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008.
After the bailout, it has faced criticism for paying bonuses to senior staff and failing to meet business lending targets.
Brian Hartzer, who took over as CEO of RBS and NatWest in August last year, says: “We had a searing experience as a business and are thankful we were rescued. We have since taken stock on how we do things. There’s a lot we do well for customers but we can do more and we want to change.
“This won’t happen overnight but the Customer Charter is our pledge that we are on the case and will be held to account against the progress we make.”
Readers' comments (1)
Duncan Ogilvie | Wed, 24 Nov 2010 2:17 pm
Natwest, the "helpful bank" is currently mailing debit cards with changed card numbers to all of its millions of account holders. Many customers pay Natwest for "Card protection" and most almost certainly assume that Natwest will advise this part of their service of the changed numbers -- beware, Natwest does not do this, so when you lose your card the "Card protection" service will not know the number to cancel.
What a muddle! And if you want to tell the "Card protection" service your new card number, you must pay for the call with an 0845 number even though Natwest chose to change the card numbers. The helpful bank?
W Duncan Ogilvie, 19 Canynge Road, Bristol BS8 3JZ 0117-973 6688
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