And that’s it. Thanks for all your questions, sorry we couldn’t answer them all, but hopefully we’ve picked through most issues raised.
We’ve been running for nearly an hour now, so will wind things up. Thanks to Les for coming in. As a final question we asked him what was on the agenda in the coming months. He says: Being able to take a picture of a cheque rather than having to go into the branch is something that will be delivered by the industry in the autumn. Through the year we will regularly introduce new services through our mobile app. We’ve recently made it possible for you to change your standing orders and direct debits very quickly through mobile. A big priority for me is listening to our customers, and we’ve introduced a system that helps us to do that, and I’ve been using it myself. We take customers feedback and follow up on some of the changes they’ve asked us to make.
Vejking asks:
Why are alerts only sent to phones. Why not e-mail?
Les says: You can have alerts sent to your email, and you can change your alerts through online or mobile banking.
RobRoy1975 asks:
I’ve worked in several banks including RBS and Barclays as both an employee and a consultant. My experience has been that there is an endemic blame culture prevalent in those organisations when things go wrong and Barclays’ faux pas this week has reinforced my view that platitudes about culture, conduct and the confidence to “Speak Up/Speak Out” have been ineffective and primarily been “a sop to the regulator” (in quote marks as this is what a Barclays Exec working in the corporate centre said to me around 2013).
How would you suggest that banks genuinely change their internal culture – and I don’t mean training and posters, I mean organisational change to ensure people can get away from the type of events that happened at Barclays this week.
Les says: I agree that culture is critical. What is needed is action rather than words, as you say. Very tangible action we have taken is removing all variable compensation for our customer-facing steams. We also do have an anonymous whistle-blowing process which goes to our non-executive directors rather than executive management. We have reviewed this process in the light of the story to ensure we are fully comfortable with how it works.
When pressed on bonuses at the top-end of the bank, Les said: Neither I nor any or my executive colleagues get a cash bonus. Instead we get shares in the company, some of which vest only after seven years. I think that aligns the interests of the management team with thinking long-term for customers and shareholders.
ParcelOfRogue asks:
Why did NatWest take the bail out from PM Brown in 2007-8, with an undertaking to maintain existing lending levels, then have it’s staff tell businesses on the ground not to apply for finance as there would be none available? I know this because it happened to me. RBS then told PM Brown that lending had not been maintained because of insufficient demand for it. I think you should come clean and admit it happened, along with all the other terrible practices.
Les says: I think there were a lot of things around the time of the global financial crisis that the industry should not have done. I can’t change that. What I can say is that after the crisis we were lending responsibly to customers that could afford it, and we are absolutely committed to lending today to businesses as well as personal customers, provided it is the right thing for them.
How do you think Natwest will stay competitive in a world of open banking where fintech firms are disrupting the market? They don’t have the legacy systems, politics or bureaucracy and can build new functionality in a fraction of the time it would take a big firm like yours. I’ve banked with Natwest for 20 years but will be leaving you for Monzo later this year, and I’m sure I won’t be the only one.
Les says: We are also developing and introducing new systems. We are improving our legacy systems all the time. Our mobile app runs off a system that is one of the latest available. We’re also introducing security systems that can protect all of our underlying processes for customers. We are investing more than £1bn over the coming year in technology, security and innovation.
Turpin21 asks:
Why do you make people log on to your website to do some tasks eg make a payment of over £250 to a new person as apposed to let customers use your app? Other banks allow customers to do everything from their app, is your app not secure enough to keep up with the competition?
Les says: Security on the app is very important. Our app is as secure as any on the market. Actually, if you use your fingerprint to access your account that is safer than using a password online. The reason we limit the payment for a first-time payment is because that is a significant fraud indicator. Our app is currently the best-rated in the market on the Apple app store by our customers.
FenellaScroggit asks:
You have made a great effort to persuade your customers to accept a Reward current account (for which they must pay) with the promise of money back on utilities bills and purchases at selected retailers. You have recently announced that you have cut the % payback to the customer.
Can you guarantee that the Reward account is not simply a way of enticing customers to pay for their banking while shaving off the financial incentive to practically nothing?
(Incidentally, if I want money off my purchases , I’ll get a Nectar card. I don’t want or need my bank to spend time and money providing this dubious ‘benefit’.)
Les says: Great question. The current account market is very competitive, but with interest rates going down lots of our competitors have had to reduce the rewards or interest rates. We have also done that but we think this account can still be fantastic value. Actually, I have one! If you don’t think you will at least recoup your monthly fee then you shouldn’t have the account, and we will contact you to let you know you should change your account.
simonw asks:
Will surviving branch staff still have targets, unofficial or otherwise, for selling ‘products’ or earn commission on their sales? If so, how do basic salaries/wages compare with the national Living Wage and, either way, how are such clear incentives to mis-sell presented for compliance purposes?
Les says: We have no commission, no variable compensation for any branch or telephony staff, and that’s on any product: mortgages, insurance, credit cards. No commission at all.
marky19821 asks
I was recently offered a credit card at my local NatWest and when I declined to take up the offer (being a bit old fashioned, I don’t like taking out debt I can’t afford to re-pay), the cashier said “good for you”. She knew I couldn’t afford one. What pressure or incentive is applied to staff to offer customers credit?
Les says: In this area I think we’ve done more than anyone. As of January 2016 we have removed all bonus or variable compensation from all our branch and telephony staff. There are no staff that talk to customers that have variable compensation. All are on a standard fixed salary. I think we are leading the market on this.
keptinchains asks:
Why is your spread between buy and sell on the exchange rates so big? (This translates to ‘Why be so greedy and take people’s money just because they want to change it to another currency?
Les says: Some of the rates that we use are standard rates that are set by Visa. There are some areas where we have free banking, and there are some areas where we charge. We are looking at simplification in this space, and I do think you are likely to see more competition in money transfers, and you are likely to find different ways for people to access transfers.
polstar2505 asks:
Where a customer pays money into the wrong account - perhaps getting a digit in the account number wrong - and the lucky recipient dishonestly spends that money, why do banks not do more to assist? For example by cross checking names tally, or by clawing the money back, or by releasing information for legal proceedings?
Les says: I agree that we can and should do more. Legal and personal privacy issues make it difficult to reclaim money, so we should do more to help customers not make the mistake in the first place. We are working on things that will prompt customers to recheck if we think the account number may be wrong. An example where we are helping today is customers can send a photo of their documents which we then transcribe.
PimpmasterFlex asks:
Are Russian cyber criminals or old school East End bank robbers the greater threat to your business?
Les says: The biggest threat are our own customers and how they keep their data secure. Most criminals defraud customers by persuading them to hand over their personal data. We will never ask for a password. Never give anyone your password. The bank will neber call you and ask you to move your money to another account. We have a security information centre on our website which has more details, and you can also go into a branch and the staff will talk you through what you and shouldn’t do.
Updated
Is the end in sight for ‘Free Banking’?
Les says: Right now we don’t plan to remove free banking. We as the market charge for plenty of products and services, such as the Reward account. We want to make sure that anything you pay for is good value. We have no plans to charge for ATMs.
I notice that NatWest are now offering a cash ISA at 1.00% that reduces to 0.01% after 12 months. How do you explain your reversal of the policy of not using teaser rates that disappear after the first year?
Les says: “This rate is available to all customers, new and old, and that is the same for all products. We are exploring promotional pricing.”
NatWest is closing both the Adel and Otley branches on the main road corridor out of Leeds leading to the Northwest. This is going to have a significant impact on communities for both businesses and individuals. Otley, a town of over 10,000 will be 6-7 miles from a NatWest branch. Villages like Bramhope and Pool with populations in the 3-4000 range, many elderly, will be between 5 and 8 miles from a branch.
I can just about see the logic in closing either Adel or Otley but not both. The suggested alternative of Headingley has no nearby practical parking. One of these two branches needs to be reprieved to serve a wide population of NatWest customers.
Les says: Over the past five years, footfall has declined by about 40% across all branches, and so we need to respond to what customers are doing. For every branch closure we have a named local person you can talk to about alternatives and how to access them.
FURIONSTORMRAGE asks:
Our local branch is being closed and local people are very angry about it. You’re not even leaving the cash machine behind as you have done in other small towns where the branch has closed. People needing to actually visit a branch will now have to travel about 10 miles to the nearest open branch making banking very difficult for those, often elderly people who don’t bank online. This is inconsiderate and irresponsible but a reasonable solution would be to retain the cashpoint and have a mobile branch visit small towns on a set day every week so local people who don’t bank online, can’t travel far or need a face to face meeting still have an opportunity to do that locally. Would you be prepared to give this idea a trial of 6 months to see if it gets a worthwhile level of business in places when local branches have been closed please.
Les says: “There are more ways to bank today than there has ever been. People have access to a post office, online, a mobile. If you don’t like digital, or are in rural areas, you can go to a Post Office or use our mobile banks. Also face to face in branch we have TechXperts who can help familiarise you with digital services. And we also have community bankers who will focus predominantly on rural areas and vulnerable customers to help them understand the different ways to bank.”
Updated
Les Matheson is now in the building! The Q and A is underway …
Post your questions for Les Matheson
Want to know why your local NatWest bank branch is closing? How you can possibly be charged so much when you go overdrawn? Or why your savings account is paying so little interest? Or maybe you have advice for NatWest on how it can run things better.
Les Matheson, the RBS boss in charge of the bank’s almost 1,300 NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland’s branches and its 16.5 million current account customers, will be taking your questions live at the Guardian on Wednesday morning (12 April). But you can post your questions below now, and Matheson will take on as many as possible from 10.15am on Wednesday.
Matheson joined RBS in 2010 from Australian bank Westpac, and in 2014 was put in charge of its entire personal and business banking business in 2014. He was taken on after RBS’s rescue by the taxpayer, so can’t really answer questions on what the bank was doing before its crash, although he was around when NatWest’s computer failure in 2012 left millions blocked out of their accounts.
You might want to probe him on how safe your money is from either internal failures or external hackers. He will struggle to answer very specific details of individual account issues – but promises to cover as many topics as possible that are thrown at him. So get your questions in below!
