A good way to do business (TT Dec03 p15-17)

Relationship banking has been with us for years, even centuries. In spring 1728, with The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) less than a year old, a customer came to us with a problem.William Hogg, a merchant in the High Street of Edinburgh, was not unique. He bought and he sold – and that meant there were times when he had enough money and times when he did not. He did not want to borrow a fixed sum for a fixed period – the existing form of borrowing – he wanted something more flexible, borrowing only what he needed, when he needed it, and moreover paying for it on that basis.