Royal Bank of Scotland accounts

Banking
799

Tricky!

The paper used for the child& o statements are up there. By far the best paper that’s come through the post.

I’m also really fond of the paper apple use for their letters. The paper itself isn’t anything special, it’s nice, but the corners are rounded, concentric, adhering to the same guidelines they follow in their hardware design. It’s lovely. Slightly off topic, but I believe Apple Card follows their same ratio too, and are ever so slightly rounder than conventional cards. Their chip was custom designed in the same way too.

My favourite paper for using depends on the context. I always buy my wrapping paper from The White Company. It’s just fancy Kraft paper, Hugh quality, thick, and minimalist. This is the one I used for Christmas last year: https://www.thewhitecompany.com/uk/Christmas-Green-Kraft-Wrapping-Paper--5m/p/WRHMF

For printing, it depends what I’m printing. For business cards, the simple answer is moo > vista print by a long mile. If your cards are from vista print I can usually tell and I’ll judge you negatively for it! The longer answer is I’m very particular about my card specs which I’ll get into at the end of my post!

For photos, photo books, or anything related to printing photos, there’s only one good choice: Motif

Katie Leamon make some of the nicest greeting cards. I use them for all birthday cards, which also happen to be perfectly sized for a child&Co cheque :wink: I imagine the rest of their paper and stationary is up to the same standard too, so can’t go much wrong there.

For labels/stickers, Avery is the best option for consumers. But aren’t going to be as good as something a little more custom made. But I have custom designed letter seals on order from those. Just a round transparent sticker with my initialised signature. Use them to seal up my envelopes, because who licks? Gross.

For printing regular letters and general I’ll discuss my favourite specs here. I generally like my paper uncoated (I believe all of my child and co statements were printed on uncoated paper until my most recent one which had a matte coating and felt like standard cheap printer paper). Uncoated paper folds nicer. I like business cards that are uncoated too. I like the texture and feel. I’m not too fussy with the GSM, just whatever is suited for the need, but I do tend to prefer thicker than most. Think 118+ for regular printing and business cards gotta be 600. I’m a sucker for things like letterpressing too. I’m all about texture. I also think print and ink quality counts for a lot too. Especially if you’re going to use vegan ink. That requires a lot of extra care to do, because it smudges very easily, even long after it’s dried.

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800

I run my finger under the tap, run the wet finger along the seal and then close the envelope rather than licking.

If I wanted to send something special, I would use a seal or something - but for common letters like returning signed forms to banks, etc, that’s what I do.

Does everybody else actually lick envelopes?

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801

I rather fancy this approach….

image

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802

Don’t leak my plans :pensive: I am Tryna make a living here

803

NFC app clip menus are the future!

804

For Apple devices maybe, I don’t think Google or Samsung have an equivalent; that makes it pretty useless for proper adoption

805

Would have thought google have something similar! Surprised they don’t.

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806

I do, for the very few letters or cards that I send these days.

807

Good job I always wash my hands after handling post!

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808

Google have Android Instant Apps which work similarly but are designed for slightly different use-cases.

Here’s a quick comparison between the two - also see an explanation here.

Unfortunately, Instant Apps have to be downloaded from the Play Store and don’t allow in-app payment. They are really more like demo apps.

PWAs might work on other platforms, especially if paired with a QR code to go to the correct URL.

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809

Opened a new Select account as an existing Fleet Street branch customer this week. The debit card issued is still a (Child and Co) Visa.

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810

Interestingly, the Child & Co branch closure does seem to have been picked up by the mainstream press (the article is a bit old now, but I didn’t see it when it was first published).

They also appear to have secured official confirmation that “the brand is staying”, although whether that will be for all existing customers or just private clients still isn’t clear. The article doesn’t acknowledge the existence of “personal” Child & Co customers.

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811

Note that, it’s possible that we could save the building by filing applications to have the building listed by Historic England?

How To Get Historic Buildings or Sites Protected Through Listing | Historic England

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It’s actually already been listed since 1970, and has a 2* grade listing too.

Listing only protects the appearance of a building, it cannot be used to force it’s current use to continue.

It is listed for the following reasons:

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Details

The entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 31 July 2017.

TQ 3181 SW

FLEET STREET, EC4 (south side) 7/90

26.1.70 No 1 (Glyn Mills) GV II* Bank, formerly Child’s bank.1879 (?) by J Gibson. Portland stone front. 3 storeys plus basement. 5 windows. Vermiculated rustication to ground storey with end bays set forward. Round-arched openings with inset Doric columns. Balustrade to 1st floor with balconies on brackets at either end. Order of engaged Corinthian columns in antis to 2 upper floors which have channelled face. 1st floor windows framed by Ionic columns supporting pediments. 2nd floor windows pilastered with ornamental heads. Crowning entablature with enriched frieze and modillion cornice. Area balustrade.

Listing NGR: TQ3111581092

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813

Grade I is the highest listing, but Grade II* is pretty close. It still protects everything the same.

Glad to see it already has protection, but what will RBS do with it, if the branch is shuttered? They’re going to have financial cost in maintaining it regardless and presumably will need to keep security if there are no staff to avoid squatters etc

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814

Oh sorry, I forgot how the rating system worked!
You are right - 2* is an “in-between” rating.

I’ve corrected my comment now.

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815

Sell it to create luxury apartments, probably, which would be acceptable under the listing as long as the façade is maintained.

There could also be luxury apartments on the upper floors only, with some kind of exclusive club or wine bar in the former banking hall on the ground floor.

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816

I don’t think Fleet Street would be a good place to live, bit of a business place isn’t it? I guess some banker might buy it as a place though, just to own a piece of the history

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817

Hopefully some kind of unprecedented reversal of the decision is still possible!

I haven’t done it yet, but I am going to write to complain.

I think the key points are that the history of this particular branch (and Drummonds) needs to be preserved, and the standard branch transaction analysis fails to take this into account. It also fails to consider the types of activity likely to be going on at this particular branch (mainly advice led) and only measures cash withdrawals and payments in.

I understand the overall context of the wider Group wanting to position the NatWest brand as it’s primary brand, and Royal Bank of Scotland to be used generally only as a regional brand in Scotland going forward, but the fact the branch is historically within the RBS part of the Group needn’t be a reason to close it. They could look to replicate the model used in the Holt’s branch in Farnborough, where Holt’s is also historically within the RBS stable but the branch is publicly dual-branded as NatWest and Holt’s (with no public RBS branding) and trades under both parts of the Group - serving NatWest and Holt’s/RBS customers.

They could do this and shut the (ordinary) NatWest Fleet Street branch instead. They could also shut the RBS branch in Victoria, if cuts need to be made. I understand the logic that, with the RBS brand now secondary within the Group, having a branch in Victoria, Child & Co and Drummonds is seen as too many - but it makes much more sense to close Victoria than the other two. Also, it would make more sense to close other central London NatWest branches to make savings, if that’s what’s required, in order to save Child & Co and Drummonds.

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818

Best of luck. I don’t think there is a precedent for forcing a branch to remain open on the grounds of prestige though.

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