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Child & Co RBS Branch to close

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Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    100 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 23 December 2022 at 10:01PM
    With the obvious caveats here are that:
    1. RBS in England & Wales (plus NatWest in Scotland) are essentially closed to new business.
    2. Retail Child & Co is essentially closed to new business.
    3. Retail Drummonds is alive for the time being but no promises over longevity.  
    4. Using legacy RBOS forms may result in NatWest Group closing all your accounts. 

    This must be your own conclusion:

    1- you can open an RBS account in England & Wales as you can a NatWest account in Scotland, and is anything they have managed to better integrate the two  operations lately. The fact that there are only two branches of RBS operating in England & Wales (Drummonds and Holts) but supported by NatWest Branch network, does not imply that they are closed to new business as everything is moving to Digital for al banks not only NatWest group.

    2- so far that seems to be the case

    3- Drummonds is a brand associated to a particular RBS branch, renovated completely in 2020/21, and is a quite profitable one for them with the dedicated team dealing with lottery winners, so likely to stay around, but there is no guarantee on longevity on anything in Life. 

    4- this is the most absurd of all conclusion you have made. The form is available on their website. The only thing it still does, it makes branch selection possible. If they did not want for people to use it, they can completely remove it from their own website, it is not a cause for account closure 🙈
    1. Advised by NatWest staff dealing with my soon to closed (former) Scottish branch. 
    2. Essentially closed to new business.
    3. Essentially closed to new retail business; HNW/Lottery relates to private banking.
    4. More than one instance where they have been referred to the Application Verification Unit & all group accounts closed. 

    Anyway, Buon Natale  :)
    1. It may be closed in that they have shut / are in the process of shutting all branches, but there is absolutely nothing stopping you from opening an RBS, NatWest or even Ulster Bank account from anywhere in the UK, and it can be easily serviced from whatever branch is in your part of the country. 

    2-3. Not sure how we define this. Was either branch ever intentionally open to retail business?

    4. Is that only at application stage? Why would they shut all Group accounts? It sounds like hearsay and unclear if the reason is the old form or some other issue with application/customer. 
  • WillPS
    WillPS Posts: 5,270 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Newshound! Name Dropper
    With the obvious caveats here are that:
    1. RBS in England & Wales (plus NatWest in Scotland) are essentially closed to new business.
    2. Retail Child & Co is essentially closed to new business.
    3. Retail Drummonds is alive for the time being but no promises over longevity.  
    4. Using legacy RBOS forms may result in NatWest Group closing all your accounts. 

    This must be your own conclusion:

    1- you can open an RBS account in England & Wales as you can a NatWest account in Scotland, and is anything they have managed to better integrate the two  operations lately. The fact that there are only two branches of RBS operating in England & Wales (Drummonds and Holts) but supported by NatWest Branch network, does not imply that they are closed to new business as everything is moving to Digital for al banks not only NatWest group.

    2- so far that seems to be the case

    3- Drummonds is a brand associated to a particular RBS branch, renovated completely in 2020/21, and is a quite profitable one for them with the dedicated team dealing with lottery winners, so likely to stay around, but there is no guarantee on longevity on anything in Life. 

    4- this is the most absurd of all conclusion you have made. The form is available on their website. The only thing it still does, it makes branch selection possible. If they did not want for people to use it, they can completely remove it from their own website, it is not a cause for account closure 🙈
    1. Advised by NatWest staff dealing with my soon to closed (former) Scottish branch. 
    2. Essentially closed to new business.
    3. Essentially closed to new retail business; HNW/Lottery relates to private banking.
    4. More than one instance where they have been referred to the Application Verification Unit & all group accounts closed. 

    Anyway, Buon Natale  :)
    'Someone told me' is a pretty naff source compared to the official bank websites, would you not agree? I'm reminded of the former member who claimed the Child's branded stationary would disappear soon following the branch closure and be vanquished by the move to Mastercard, despite the fact RBS had committed publicly to not do that.

    What evidence have you that the referral to the 'application verification unit' was related to use of the old form, please? Seems an odd thing to only occasionally cause a problem. I put it to you that the referral was unrelated and the closure of group accounts due to a suspicion of fraud.

    Child & Co is closed, but Drummonds is absolutely not - literally or metaphorically. Again, your supposition has absolutely no grounding in fact. In any case, the branch itself closing does not mean a great deal if all you want is a fancy chequebook and debit card - since (as evidenced by Child's and the Mastercard redesign) those continue beyond the branch's physical presence.
  • brucefan_2
    brucefan_2 Posts: 231 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 18 March 2024 at 4:36PM
    If you’re an existing customer, it should go:

    Day 0: you get email with the application ref
    Day 1: Text to say your number has been updated
    Day 2: account shows in online banking
    Day 3: card can be added to Apple or Google Pay from the app

    This all happens overnight from one working day to the next calendar day. So Saturday you might be able to add card to mobile wallet already, otherwise it’ll happen after the bank hols. 
    So, for me, it was even quicker than that:

    Day 0:     Confirmation email received
    Day 1:    Text received
    Day 1.5   Email received with sort code and account number
    Day 2:     Account shows up in online banking 
                   After 30 minutes of doing battle with Cora The Bot to get a verification code, my card showed up in Google
                   Pay
    Day 3:     (Today) Received email with details of cutomer number etc., 

    Best Wishes,
    David
    £6000 in 2023
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    500 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 25 December 2022 at 2:57PM
    Well that’s annoying I applied in July I think and got the house card. Maybe I should order a new card or re-apply? I will give it six months first.

    Not the end of the world as I do prefer the child branding.
  • Marchitiello
    Marchitiello Posts: 1,304 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 28 December 2022 at 11:41PM
    With the obvious caveats here are that:
    1. RBS in England & Wales (plus NatWest in Scotland) are essentially closed to new business.
    2. Retail Child & Co is essentially closed to new business.
    3. Retail Drummonds is alive for the time being but no promises over longevity.  
    4. Using legacy RBOS forms may result in NatWest Group closing all your accounts. 

    This must be your own conclusion:

    1- you can open an RBS account in England & Wales as you can a NatWest account in Scotland, and is anything they have managed to better integrate the two  operations lately. The fact that there are only two branches of RBS operating in England & Wales (Drummonds and Holts) but supported by NatWest Branch network, does not imply that they are closed to new business as everything is moving to Digital for al banks not only NatWest group.

    2- so far that seems to be the case

    3- Drummonds is a brand associated to a particular RBS branch, renovated completely in 2020/21, and is a quite profitable one for them with the dedicated team dealing with lottery winners, so likely to stay around, but there is no guarantee on longevity on anything in Life. 

    4- this is the most absurd of all conclusion you have made. The form is available on their website. The only thing it still does, it makes branch selection possible. If they did not want for people to use it, they can completely remove it from their own website, it is not a cause for account closure 🙈
    1. Advised by NatWest staff dealing with my soon to closed (former) Scottish branch. 
    2. Essentially closed to new business.
    3. Essentially closed to new retail business; HNW/Lottery relates to private banking.
    4. More than one instance where they have been referred to the Application Verification Unit & all group accounts closed. 

    Anyway, Buon Natale  :)
    3 - Lottery winners departments within the branch (which I visit almost weekly) is behind a screen at the back
    of the branch, it was a reason for which I stated the physical branch will probably not close, not that it is only open for HNWI… when I visit there are at least 2/3 people queuing (nice queuing as you actually sit on a sofa and they call you when is your turn).  I was first a Child & Co customer served in branch there but then started visiting St James for work more often and started using Drummonds and opened a second account there. I am now fully serviced at Drummonds (from before C&C branch actually closed) and get account reviews with the Branch team, but last week I opened online a First Saver in trust for my youngest and it was assigned the C&C sort code (for my middle one a couple of years ago we had opened in branch and got the Drummond sort code) 
  • On a slightly brighter note than my other RBS dealings this week, my new 'Drummonds' branded card arrived today, same design as the card pictured on October 15th in this thread.

    Best Wishes,
    David
    £6000 in 2023
  • Child and Co branch still appears under the sort code when applying for an account, so it seems it is very much still accepting business. I just got a new card also for my current account.

    The Drummond card still escapes me.
  • ForumUser7
    ForumUser7 Posts: 2,521 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 29 June 2023 at 1:07AM
    Hi, Quick Question how do you open the account online and choose the Childs branch ?, I have a RBS account and when I go to open another account it just allocates the new account to the same branch sort code ?.
    @Saver101101
     You need to use the old link:

    https://www.cao.rbos.com/cao/external/rbs/launchChannelHandler.do?PF=CAC&PI=ZJ&BRD=RBS&CID=INT&CS=N&devicemode=null&subbrand=responsive_rbs_personal&CCF=Y

    Be quick!
    Has anyone successfully used this link recently, and got a child’s and co branded debit card etc. without having the so called ‘application verification unit’ close all their group accounts please? Thank you
    If you want me to definitely see your reply, please tag me @forumuser7 Thank you.

    N.B. (Amended from Forum Rules): You must investigate, and check several times, before you make any decisions or take any action based on any information you glean from any of my content, as nothing I post is advice, rather it is personal opinion and is solely for discussion purposes. I research before my posts, and I never intend to share anything that is misleading, misinforming, or out of date, but don't rely on everything you read. Some of the information changes quickly, is my own opinion or may be incorrect. Verify anything you read before acting on it to protect yourself because you are responsible for any action you consequently make... DYOR, YMMV etc.
  • Not brave enough to try!
  • Has anyone successfully used this link recently, and got a child’s and co branded debit card etc. without having the so called ‘application verification unit’ close all their group accounts please? Thank you
    Has that happened to you, or someone you know recently (or at all)? 
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