Royal Bank of Scotland

The Royal Bank of Scotland was founded by Royal Charter in 1727. It opened for business in Ship Close in Edinburgh and was quickly involved in a banknote circulation war with the older Bank of Scotland (established in 1695). In 1728 it pioneered the cash-credit, the forerunner of the overdraft. A branch was opened in Glasgow in 1783, this was closely involved with the sugar and cotton trades.

Other branches were acquired after the collapse in 1857 of the Western Bank of Scotland (established in 1832). The Dundee Banking Company (established in 1763) was purchased in 1864. The London branch office was opened in 1874, and in 1878 additional branches were acquired following the collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank (established in 1839).

Drummonds & Co. of London (established in 1712) was acquired in 1924; Williams Deacon's Bank Limited (established in 1836) of Manchester and London was acquired in 1930; and Glyn, Mills & Co. (established in 1753) of London, which owned the London banks of Holt & Co. (established in 1809) and Child & Co. (established c1850) was acquired in 1939.

Williams Deacon's and Glyn, Mills continued to operate as separate entities and the business became known as the Three Banks Group. In 1969 the Royal Bank of Scotland merged with National Commercial Bank of Scotland, formed in 1959 by the merger of National Bank of Scotland (established in 1825) and Commercial Bank of Scotland (established in 1810) and supplemented in 1966 by the acquisition of the English and Welsh branches of the National Bank (established in 1835).

In 1970 the three London clearing bank subsidiaries combined as Williams & Glyn's Bank Limited. In 1985 the businesses of the Royal Bank of Scotland Limited and Williams & Glyn's Bank Limited were merged and the group became The Royal Bank of Scotland plc. It set up a pioneering motor insurance company, Direct Line, in 1985; it acquired Citizens Financial Group (established in 1828) of Providence, Rhode Island, in 1988, and in 1992, it acquired Adam & Co. (established in 1983), a private banking company based in Edinburgh.

An independent offshore bank, Royal Bank of Scotland International, was established in 1996 and in 1997 the Royal Bank launched the UK's first online banking service over the internet as well as joint financial services ventures with Tesco and Virgin Direct. In 2000 the Royal Bank acquired National Westminster Bank plc.