Dubai: The transition from ABN Amro, a ubiquitous brand in the UAE and the region, to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was formally announced yesterday with the start of changing branding on premises, marketing and other communications.
RBS led a consortium which acquired the Dutch bank in October 2007.
"We have worked very hard on the integration process so far...we have been working particularly on organisation and planning and, of course, the re-branding process, which is now happening," said Colin Macdonald, managing director and regional head, Middle East, RBS. "It's a complex process and we need to make sure it runs very smoothly for our client base, both existing and our new ones."
Transition
In a press statement, the bank said the customers' account numbers, bank accounts, banking activities and other relationship details would remain the same to ensure a hassle-free transition. In terms of communication to clients, the bank has already written to them once about the re-branding.
Commenting on the pros-pects in the region, Macdonald said at a press conference, it remains positive. "High liquidity through growth in various sectors over recent years has enabled the Gulf banking industry to enjoy an extraordinary growth. Improved regulatory frameworks and the liberalisation of the GCC financial markets are setting the scene for regional expansion and consolidation," he added.
Commenting on future plans, Macdonald said that the bank had grown from an organisation of 1,200 employees to 2,700 so he expects that growth will continue and there will be no negative fallout from the merger in the GCC.
In terms of expansion of retail operations, which has a significant presence in the market, it is always a priority to evaluate more customer service centres and ATMs and opening a branch is always on its "wish list," said Burhan Khan, executive vice-president, retail banking UAE.
