There is something ironic about a bank suddenly abandoning customers when those customers own the majority of it.
We, as taxpayers, bailed out RBS when it ran into a storm largely of its own making. The excesses of investment bankers globally – recklessly gambling other people’s money – precipitated a global crash that left one of the UK’s leading financial institutions, RBS, in severe trouble.
To save the bank, the UK government effectively privatised RBS, and we still own almost three quarters of it. Yes, technology has changed the way we bank to an extent, but RBS seems to believe it can act with no regard for rural taxpayers, customers and even less discernible social conscience. What is worse, the aftershocks of this bad behaviour by the banks are still being felt in austerity measures imposed following the worst recession since the 1930s. And it will get worse before it gets better.