Royal Bank of Scotland is about to announce a new plan intended to cut costs to the extent of £800 million. The bank had reported its ninth consecutive annual loss. The cost cutting will be in line with its goal for last year, said news reports. In 2016, the bank had reached nearly £700 million of savings by the end of the third quarter. The new cost reduction measures are likely to be driven by the closure of high street branches and staff cuts. There were reports that the bank may cut as many as 15,000 jobs though the bank denied the existence of any such plan. The bank had recently announced that it would introduce robo advice as a way to deliver investment advice online, noting that fewer customers were visiting branches. The bank has closed nearly 200 branches in the past two years.
