RBS Focuses To Compete With Worldpay

Wednesday, May 29th, 2019

After selling Worldpay a decade ago, Royal Bank of Scotland invaded the payments market space early this month. RBS rolled out a new segment that will compete Worldpay, its ex-unit it had to drop.

The new branch it calls NatWest Tyl is a merchant acquirer for SMBs powering merchants to take payments through cards both online and in-store. NatWest Tyl will make revenue off charging fees to link retailers to network operators like Mastercard and Visa.
RBS-Worldpay History

Ten years ago RBS hit financial rock bottom, forcing it to use Worldpay as a bailout. But Worldpay has had nothing to complain about since then. Together with other payment companies, the world-known service provider has experienced a boom as the shift towards online transactions paces. Plus, this year another market player – Fidelity National Information services – saw potential in Worldpay and swallowed it in a $43 billion merger, as industry experts move towards providing seamless services.

According to Alison Rose Head of Banking at RBS, the proposition of an internal merchant acquiring and payment service is a significant leap for the company. The new segment will likely be well-accepted by industry watchdogs who are worried about rivalry issues in the payments sector. Of late, the Payments Systems Regulator has shown concern that some market players are overcharging micro-businesses.

RBS’s NatWest Tyl also plains to provide retailers with customer data analytics to help them gain critical market insights, measure performance, and look for ways to improve. Beyond payment and data analytics, the branch is part of Royal Bank of Scotland’s effort to support new businesses and services through tech projects & initiatives. For instance, the RBS has already launched a digital loan service they call Esme and a strictly business bank dubbed Mettle.

Commenting on the invasion, Paul Thwaite, managing director for sales at NatWest, said the new space would be impressive a with RBS as a competitor, but the M.D. is confident the former’s vast client base and customer data will help it compete against more-established payment firms. Paul recognized RBS as the leading U.K. lender to SMBs.

Wrapping Up

RBS’ invasion may shake the payment industry given its reputation as the top U.K. lender for small companies. But other market players have their plans too; they have in the market for a long time, so they’ll find their way to weather this storm.