The bank announced in March that it would also scale back its face-to-face service to only customers with at least £250,000 to invest, the Financial Times reported.
“Our customers increasingly want to bank with us using digital technology,” an RBS spokesperson told the media.
“As a result, we are scaling back our face-to-face advisers and significantly investing in an online investing platform that enables us to help a new group of customers with as little as £500 to invest.”
The bank’s move comes after ifa reported last month that UK regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a report with recommendations that look to address the country’s difficulties with the affordability and accessibility of advice.
One of those recommendations in its Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR) includes establishing a unit to help firms develop automated advice models in an effort to offer consumers more cost-effective advice.
“We know that people often find it difficult to engage with financial matters and we need to make it easier for them to do so,” said FCA acting chief executive Tracey McDermott.
“The package of reforms we have laid out will help increase both the accessibility and affordability of the advice and guidance to ensure that consumers get the help they really need when they really need it.”
The UK industry’s difficulty with the affordability of advice is also known as the ‘advice gap’. ifa reported in February that this gap as a result of adviser losses following new industry reforms, including higher education standards.
Regulated to near extinction. Might be best that Taronga zoo keep a few of us to breed and protect our existence
It is always good to see the UK is a few years ahead of Australia. The “advice gap” will be a major issue in the next few years in Australia due to the combination of changes which are happening in the industry. I personally would have thought a simple approach was making the advice process easier and less complex, like we have been promised now the LIF changes are in place. I await the simplification.