RBS invests £75m in money transfer hub

Published on Saturday 21 November 2009 14:16

ROYAL Bank of Scotland has revealed that it has invested £75 million developing Edinburgh as a hub for global money transfers.

The programme, which has been running for several months, has seen work migrate from Chicago and is being billed as an indication of the bank's continuing commitment to Scotland.

More than 30,000 per second flows through the Edinburgh payments centre, amounting to 17 million payments a day for 40 million customers worldwide.

The move is part of RBS's strategy to reduce the number of data centres it has around the world and helps secure high-value jobs in the city.

Ron Teerlink, chief administrative officer at RBS said: "This investment in our Edinburgh data centres is a significant boost for the city."

He said it would generate up to 100m in cost savings and efficiencies for the company.

Scottish secretary Jim Murphy said the investment would help safeguard skilled jobs in the financial services sector in Scotland.

"I am delighted that RBS has chosen to locate its global technology hub in the city," he said. "This is a clear endorsement of the group's commitment to Edinburgh and confirms the city's strong reputation as a centre of excellence for financial services."