2 March 2007
The latest figures from the Royal Bank of Scotland's Group (RBS Group) have revealed profits in 2006 of £9.414 billion, up 14% from the previous year.
However, in its retail banking sector, profits rose by just 1.5% to £2.3 billion, while write offs reached £1.3 billion, a 14.5% increase.
With such a large proportion (69%) of profits being written off, due to the burden of consumer debt, Nick White, Director of Financial Services at independent price comparison and switching website uSwitch.com, suggested banks will look for other ways to recover revenue.
He explained: "With one of the largest joint market shares in the current account market, RBS will really feel the financial impact should the OFT decide to decrease current account fees in 2007.
"As with each of the other big banks in the UK, we expect that RBS will continue to claw back this revenue from other changes throughout the next year in anticipation of the loss revenue from these fees."
As a result, Mr White advised current account holders to keep "a very close eye on the small print" of any correspondence they receive from their bank to avoid "being ripped off by underhanded revenue generating tactics".
If you're not getting what you want from your existing provider, switching to better banking is easy and only takes a few minutes. Visit uSwitch.com and make an accurate and impartial comparison of all UK current accounts. Apply online and switch today.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
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