I was switching for other reasons tbf (to do with chaps payment limits!)
Well, I did the sane thing and asked their support if Child & Co was being canned as a brand
Don’t keep us all in suspense! What did they say?
Which one of you found it and retweeted me
Edit: Mark, that was I/l18 right?
Waiting on a reply
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My guess (based on absolutely no information) is that they are closing Child & Co as a brand as part of continued streamlining of the business, which has been a big thing under Alison Rose. In 2021 Ulster Bank NI was merged with NatWest’s banking license (for example) in order to reduce costs and at the same time the decision was taken to shut down Ulster Bank ROI. Adam & Co was also sold off as a brand, to be used by an investment management company.
As with the closure of Adam & Co as an RBS brand, private customers will most likely be migrated across to Coutts - which it is clear they are now positioning as their single flagship premium brand. Personal customers, who previously had a “special” account by virtue of the branch, will revert to being normal personal customers.
This saves costs on running a duplicate operation and ensures little difference behind the scenes and for true private customers (who can be sold as being “upgraded” to Coutts). Child & Co private banking managers will move across to Coutts with the client base, I’d suspect, and with the whole group moving increasingly to a hybrid working model (something that was happening even before Covid started) they will probably have plenty of spare space in Coutts offices and encourage working from home at least some of the time so the Child & Co staff will be easily “absorbed” into an enlarged Coutts. Child & Co always had a close relationship with Coutts anyway.
I expect the large Child & Co branch to be sold off.
All of this is against the further backdrop of a strategy to de-emphasise the RBS brand in England & Wales, replacing it with NatWest. That’s why, in a way, it’s not surprising that they are retaining the NatWest branch across the road. Apart from it being cheaper to run, it’s the brand they want people to see - with RBS now confined only to Scotland. It’s no coincidence that almost all remaining RBS branches in England have also been announced for closure on the same day. Any customer that claims they need a branch can generally be placated by the fact there is, invariably, a NatWest they can use instead nearby.
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Eh. As the UK Government holds a significant stake of RBS I believe the brand should either be given to the government to keep and bestow upon the Post Office or something or should be sold to a British company willing to keep it alive
RBS will retain it forever, as they did with Williams & Glyn, leaving the door open for a potential return (although I wouldn’t bet on it)!
Although I do agree that it’s a real shame to lose a brand with a 350+ year history.
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Some extra speculation/discussion over on MSE forums: apparently someone was told that the cheque books/cards would remain the same, it’s just the branch that’s going. Although not sure what to expect as that would contradict the letter (and the fact there is no new MasterCard also suggests that it’s all going)
I’ll keep the account as long as it’s Child & Co branded but will be gone the second the fun is over
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I think that’s a miscommunication.
What they were trying to say was probably “there will be no change to your account functionality” (sort codes and account numbers will not change, cards will continue working until they are replaced as part of the Mastercard replacement programme, and the app + internet + telephone banking won’t change).
That doesn‘t actually mean that the branding won’t change though, and I suspect it will.
The Mastercard situation is a big clue. Either they have to design a new Mastercard specifically for a dying/withdrawn brand (why would they?) or they just give out the beach hut instead. I know which one I think is, sadly, more likely.
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Well seeing as I’ve got another 2 years to go before my RBS debit card expires, I won’t be seeing one of those. I do however have a very similar view out of my living room window, so I’'ll just have to make do with that I guess 
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On the bright side, at least we’ve all gone on this journey and experienced it together! That’s the power of community at its finest!
If nothing else, the child & co saga will go down as one of my favourite shared experiences from being a member of the various fintech communities. I’m still in awe at the fact that on a fintech forum, it’s the thread for a traditional bank that got a lot of the activity, and it’s all because of this one neat little gimmick.
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They did say somewhere that they would be replacing cards early, as First Direct did, to meet a deadline for the network switch to be complete.
I think it was on Twitter.
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My RBS card is in my spare wallet in a as new condition on account of the fact I never use the card. It’s just two years old. If I do get another new card early, it’ll suffer the same fate, stuck in a wallet unlikely to see the light of day. I only get my work salary paid into RBS, that’s it, no other activity apart from me transferring spending money out of it directly to my Starling account.
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They’re replacing all debit cards before June so you’ll be seeing the shed before you expect sadly.
I fully agree with your assessment on both what will happen to the brand and this comment re miscommunication. I think Alison Rose killed a 300+ year brand, but c’est la vie sadly. Can’t expect them to keep it for a few banking geeks.
Indeed! I might have to frame or laminate the card to protect it in memory of this experience
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If only I’d kept my first ever TSB Speedbank card from when I was 16 
Frightening to think that was now almost 40 years ago 
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Happy to bestow upon you the news: the brand is staying, just the branch is going
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I don’t buy it!
For one thing, the branch was virtually the only thing that was branded anyway (Child & Co had no website; internet, app and telephone banking were provided by RBS) aside from the card and the chequebook.
Cheques are slowly being phased out, so that’s increasingly irrelevant (even though it is fun) and the Mastercard situation seemed to be a clue to the card possibly not being retained in that migration.
So what might be left?
A chequebook, with a generic beach hut card and no special branch or branded access through any other channel? At that stage they might as well close it (but I still hope I’m wrong).
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I’m with you on this – I doubt the brand is staying or that standard frontline workers are privy to these things at all. I’m happy to be proven wrong but expect a beach hut and/or standard RBS branded statements soon.
Happy days if I’m proven wrong though!
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My sentiment exactly. 
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