Eleven banks have been approved to participate in the £350 million RBS Incentivised Switching Scheme – an initiative designed to increase competition within the UK SME banking market which is due to launch in February 2019.
Arbuthnot Latham, Clydesdale, Co-op Bank, Hampden & Co, Metro Bank, Monzo, Nationwide, Santander, Starling, TSB and Handelsbanken have all been approved to join the scheme by Banking Competition Remedies (BCR), an independent body set up to manage the initiative.
The Incentivised Switching Scheme is one aspect of the RBS Alternative Remedies Package (ARP) worth £775 million in total.
In return for its £45.5 billion government bailout during the financial crisis in 2008, RBS is being forced to provide £350 million for rival banks to offer incentives to business customers to switch. The package also consists of an additional £425 million for a Capability and Innovation Fund to help other banks and finance firms invest in their business banking services.
It is hoped the money will boost competition and give small business customers more power and choice.
To encourage as much competition as possible, BCR said it would consider a second round of applications to allow more banks to join in late Spring.
When the scheme launches on 25 February 2019, eligible RBS business customers will be able to review and select offers from participating banks which are better than those normally available on the market, in return for switching their business current account over to them.
On its website, RBS says the scheme, which it calls Business Banking Switch, is only available to certain business and commercial customers, with an annual turnover of £25 million or less at an individual company level, who were due to move to new bank Williams & Glyn.
If you are eligible to take part, we would suggest waiting for the scheme to launch on 25 February 2019 to see the offers available before deciding which bank to switch over to. Offers may range from free banking to cash incentives so you could lose out on possible funding by switching banks before the scheme launches.
If you would like more information on the scheme or to register for updates, please visit: https://businessbankingswitch.rbs.co.uk/?#
