11/06/2013

RBS Citizens Financial Group launches Bank Better initiative with signature approach to overdrafts – no overdraft fee for transactions of $5 or less – and other enhancements

Comprised of dozens of individual initiatives, “Bank Better” program establishes a simple, clear and personal approach to banking for Citizens Bank and Charter One customers

Overdraft changes part of broader effort to increase product transparency, enhance customer communications and refine products and services to better meet customers’ personal banking needs

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (November 6, 2013) – RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. today announced the launch of Bank Better, a company-wide program to make banking simple, clear and personal for Citizens Bank and Charter One customers. Bank Better launches with a signature approach to overdrafts –- no overdraft fee for transactions of $5 or less – and several other significant updates to the bank’s offerings.

“Coming out of the financial crisis, banks have a special opportunity to prove to their customers that they value their business and that they are committed to doing the right thing and creating real value for their customers,” said Brad Conner, Vice Chairman of Consumer Banking. “We know that banking isn’t just important to our customers – it is personal to them. With Bank Better, we have a simple but important goal: Make it easy for our customers to ‘bank better.’ We want to always be improving our ability to meet the needs of our customers, and Bank Better is helping us define this opportunity and deliver on it for our Citizens Bank and Charter One customers.”

RBSCFG launches Bank Better with three key enhancements for customers:

Simplified Overdraft Policies for Personal Checking and Money Market Accounts

  • No overdraft fee for any transaction item of $5 or less. This feature applies to an unlimited number of transactions of $5 or less.
  • Replacement of a tiered system of overdraft fees with a simple flat fee of $35 per item for overdrafts and returned items greater than $5. This change also lowers the overdraft fee that the majority of customers would pay, from $37 to $35.
  • There are no changes to Sustained Overdraft Fees, which apply when an account is overdrawn by any amount, for three or more consecutive days. Complete overdraft policies will be available online starting November 8 when the simplified policies take effect.

Simplified Posting Order for Checking and Money Market Account Deposits, Withdrawals and Payments
The following provides a general overview of the new posting order. Complete details will be available online starting November 8 when simplified posting order takes effect.

  • First, deposits are credited to accounts as soon as they are available.
  • Next, transactions with a date and time stamp (e.g. ATM withdrawals, debit card transactions, transactions executed by a teller and transfers) are processed in chronological order.
  • Next, transactions that are not date and time-stamped are processed in order of highest-to-lowest dollar amount. These include checks (other than those cashed at the teller), ACH transactions, Online Banking payments, recurring monthly payments and others.
  • Finally, adjustments and then fees are processed in the order of lowest-to-highest dollar amount.

Clear Account Information

  • Based on customer feedback, the Personal Deposit Agreement and the Personal Account Fees & Features Guide provided to customers have been simplified, with information organized to make it easier for customers to find the information they need.
  • Also this year, the bank introduced new Checking Account Guides and an online overdraft resource center for customers. These pages will reflect the new changes on November 8.

These Bank Better improvements join other recent enhancements including:

  • ATM messages notifying customers that their transaction may overdraw their account and offering the option to proceed or cancel the transaction.
  • Proactive phone calls and letters to customers who frequently overdraft to offer information about overdraft choices.
  • An annual “report card” for student loan borrowers to eliminate the potential for sticker shock at graduation.
  • A Checking Quick Start Guide to help new customers learn about their accounts and take advantage of services like direct deposit, Online Banking and Bill Pay, Mobile Banking and more.

Still ongoing are other Bank Better projects like:

  • A new checking account offering scheduled for 2014 that will set the industry standard for simplicity, clarity and ease of use.
  • A bank-wide effort to review and rewrite more than 3,000 types of customer letters to make them more clear and helpful for customers.
  • The introduction of a new digital teller system that is making “paperless branches” a reality.
  • The introduction of a state-of-the-art ATM network.
  • Enhancements to the bank’s award-winning Mobile Banking and Online Banking services.
  • Training programs focused on helping colleagues understand and serve individual customer needs.

To learn more, call the bank’s 24/7 customer contact center at 800-922-9999, like the bank on Facebook, follow the bank on Twitter or visit the Citizens Bank website.

About RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc
RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a $118 billion commercial bank holding company. It is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and through its subsidiaries has approximately 1,400 branches, nearly 3,600 ATMs and nearly 19,000 colleagues. Its two bank subsidiaries are RBS Citizens, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. They operate a 12-state branch network under the Citizens Bank brand in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Charter One brand in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. RBSCFG has non-branch retail and commercial offices in more than 30 states. RBSCFG is owned by RBS (the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc). RBSCFG’s website is citizensbank.com