RBS fails to meet charter pledge

Royal Bank of Scotland, 80 per cent-owned by the taxpayer, has been criticised again for not living up to claims in its much-hyped ‘customer charter' that it wants to become a better bank. Andrew Carter, leader of the Conservatives on Leeds City Council, has filed a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority over a potential breach of a commitment in RBS's charter that it would keep branches open where it is the last bank in town. The charter, which makes 14 specific customer commitments, applies to both its RBS and NatWest brands. It was launched in June last year and made pledges on everything from serving most branch customers within five minutes through to extending opening hours in its busiest branches. Carter says that the bank has broken its commitment on not closing the last bank in town after the closure last week of its NatWest branch in Farsley, a town six miles west of Leeds. The closure leaves Farsley without a bank, although the town still has a post office and a branch of the Yorkshire Building Society. In his letter to the ASA, Carter says: "There is no other bank in Farsley. Neither is there a bank in the adjacent communities of Calverley and Rodley. NatWest says there is a post office and a building society in Farsley, which is true, but they are not banks." He concludes his letter by saying: "NatWest has once again stretched credulity and twisted words to imply one thing that actually means something quite different. I would really ask that the conduct of NatWest is thoroughly investigated as regards its advertising and future behaviour." On Friday, the ASA confirmed that it had received Carter's complaint and that it would be assessed. From / Gulf News