The bank also showed signs that cost-cutting is beginning to upset customers. Analysts had expected the British state-backed bank, which returned to annual profit for the first time in a decade last year after shedding trillions in assets and spending billions on restructuring, to deliver million pounds in pre-tax profit. A long period of low interest rates in Britain and competition from upstart new lenders have combined to squeeze rates on mortgages and business loans in recent years, eroding bank profit margins.
Search the FT Search. World Show more World. US Show more US. Companies Show more Companies. Markets Show more Markets. Opinion Show more Opinion. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. Log out. US Markets Loading Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC CEO Alison Rose said the bank was more likely to partner with financial technology firms than acquire them but added that their "empathetic" use of technology gave them a competitive advantage.
Rose, who became the first woman to head a major U. Fintechs and challenger banks have played a key role in prompting a change of culture to focus on the consumer, Rose said. They use tech and data in an empathetic way and that gives them a really powerful competitive advantage. Rose said they will help the bank tune in to changing customer behavior.
In an era of low interest rates and with the yield curve under pressure, banks had to look to alternative ways to generate income, and tech and data were likely to point the way forward, Rose said. She did express concern about some aspects of the Open Banking initiative, which has seen big banks forced to share information with new startups and challengers.
We have to make sure we always protect customers' data; we have to get that right," she said. We keep our customers' data safe. Their data is as important as their pounds.
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