RBS to replace advisers with robo-advice
The Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to replace around 220 investment advisers with automated telephone and online systems.
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Face-to-face investment advice will only be available to customers planning to invest over £250,000.
A further 200 insurance advisers are also expected to be replaced with a similar robo-advice platform.
The cost-cutting initiative follows RBS' full year results, which revealed a loss of £1.98bn for 2015 - its eighth annual loss.
Recent research found that 65% of investors would use robo-advice up to £1,000 before opting for a professional adviser. Fewer than 10% would invest more than £5,000, and only 22% of investors would trust robo-advice as a full replacement to a professional financial adviser.
An RBS spokesperson said:
"The demand for face-to-face investment advice is changing. Our customers increasingly want to bank with us using digital technology.
"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."
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