Our Innovations
We've been innovating for more than 300 years. It's a continuous process and we can claim some important firsts in our history.
Corporate growth
- 1826
- NHM, founding business of RBS constituent ABN AMRO, opens a trading post at Batavia (now Jakarta). This connection makes RBS today the oldest foreign bank in Indonesia.
- 1826
- Lancaster Banking Company, a constituent of NatWest, is formed as the first true joint stock (shareholder-owned) bank in England and Wales.
- 1858
- NHM opens a trading post in Singapore, making RBS the oldest foreign bank there today.
- 1859
- NHM is the first foreign company to be granted imperial consent to open branches in Japan. Its first branch opens in Nagasaki, and is soon followed by others.
- 1864
- RBS constituent National Bank of Scotland is the first Scottish bank to open an office in London.
- 1985
- The 350 English and Welsh branches of Williams & Glyn's Bank - already owned by RBS - are rebranded as The Royal Bank of Scotland, creating Britain's first nationwide, full-service, single-brand high street bank.
- 1985
- RBS establishes Direct Line insurance, the first UK insurance company to cut out the middleman by using the telephone to put customers directly in touch with the insurer.
- 2000
- RBS acquires British bank NatWest in the biggest banking merger in UK history.
- 2007
- RBS leads the first three-party consortium acquisition of a bank, acquiring Dutch bank ABN AMRO.
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- How old is the Royal Bank?
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The Royal Bank of Scotland itself was established by royal charter on 31 May 1727. Some of our constituent businesses are even older, dating back as far as the 1580s. You can learn more about them at RBS Heritage On-line.
- Is it true that Scottish banknotes are not legal tender?
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Yes, it is - but Bank of England notes aren't legal tender in Scotland either. Officially, the phrase 'legal tender' means money that a person is obliged to accept if offered it in payment of a debt. Under Scottish law, that does not include banknotes, which are classified as 'legal currency' but not 'legal tender'.
The only historical exception was during the two world wars, when as a temporary measure the government made banknotes legal tender in Scotland, as a way of reinforcing people’s trust in them. This was important in a time of shortages, when the government needed to be sure that people would not hoard gold.
