Bank with us or face the consequences, RBS tells employees - Independent Online Edition > This Britain

Bank with us or face the consequences, RBS tells employees - Independent Online Edition > This Britain: "Bank with us or face the consequences, RBS tells employees


Britain's second largest bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns NatWest, has been criticised for demanding that its employees open an account with its branches.
In letters being sent to an estimated 14,000 workers, RBS instructed them to use its facilities for personal banking or face the consequences. Gordon Pell, chief executive of retail markets at RBS, warned them: "Failure to do so will represent a breach of group policy and I will be obliged to write directly to your line manager asking them to progress this matter to the group's disciplinary policy."
Bank employees have protested to their union, Amicus, which described the order as unwarranted and "heavy-handed".
The controversy comes after a turbulent month for the high street banks, which are facing a mass revolt from customers and scrutiny by regulators over unfair bank charges. The Independent has been urging people to claim back their money.
Fresh concern about the banks' behaviour was raised this week by a BBC television programme that exposed shady practice by staff at Barclays, such as switching people to fee-based accounts without their consent and misrepresenting the nature of sales calls.
Two bank groups, Lloyds TSB and HBOS, said that they did not compel employees to have accounts with their employer.
RBS, which also owns the insurers Direct Line and Churchill, said it sent its letter after a regular review to remind staff of their terms and conditions.
Staff who did not comply with the terms of employment would face disciplinary procedures, the company said but that did not mean that they would lose their jobs.
"Our staff are completely at liberty to run other accounts with other providers if they wish, once the money is theirs they can do what they like with it," a spokesman said.
Amicus said: "Our helpline has been jammed with calls from angry staff. If you work for Tesco you won't be disciplined for buying your groceries from Sainsbury." It claimed that most of the staff affected had been transferred to RBS following the takeovers of Direct Line and Churchill and were not on contracts that required them to open RBS accounts.
"RBS's disproportionate and heavy-handed approach is counter-productive and bad for morale. We are calling on the bank to reconsider its position."
Alison Maclean, of Amicus, said that most RBS employees already held accounts with the group. "Where the problem has arisen is where employees through choice over a number of years have chosen to have their salary paid into another bank account," she told BBC Radio 4. "There are also employees that have joined the group from other constituent organisations, such as Direct Line or Churchill Insurance.
"This wasn't a problem a year ago or two years ago and now all of a sudden it's a problem.
"We are talking about employees who have been loyal to the bank and dedicated and never had any issues in terms of proposed disciplinary action and they now find themselves in a situation where potentially they could face disciplinary action for failing to have their salary paid into a group bank."
Lloyds TSB said it encouraged all members of staff to know their products and be visible advocates of the brand when they opened their wallets. However it added that it did not force staff to open an account with the company. A spokesman for HBOS, which owns Halifax, said: "We do not force anybody to have an HBOS or Halifax account, they just need a current account. We do have specific accounts for colleagues which may have slightly better rates. But the option is entirely theirs - there is no pressure at all." "