Marketplace

Access to Banking

RBC is a leader in introducing convenient alternatives for people to access their money and finances anywhere, anytime. We continue to expand and improve our branch networks, including online and telephone banking, and full-service banking machines. See Reaching Out to Clients 24/7.

We also provide banking access to a host of traditionally underserved groups through customized products, services, channels and community-based programs. Groups served include:

• Seniors
• Students and Youth
• People with Disabilities
• Aboriginal Communities
• Newcomers to Canada
• People Who Speak Different Languages

The provision of microcredit in developing nations is not part of our business model. Learn more.

Reaching Out to Clients 24/7

Canada

RBC has the largest branch and ATM network in Canada, and we are investing in growth. We opened 34 new bank branches/facilities in 2007 and expect to open as many as 35 more in 2008. We also opened 12 insurance outlets in 2007 with 50 more planned over the next three years. Over 450 of our busiest branches are open extended hours and we continue to look for opportunities to offer extended hours wherever there is a demand. We have the largest sales force in Canada, including mobile specialists who go to our clients' homes any day of the week a client chooses. These include mortgage specialists, insurance representatives, investment and retirement planners, and specialized sales forces for business and commercial clients. And we have extensive third-party distribution relationships. Our clients can bank online or by phone, or use our ATMs anytime they want.

Online banking client enrollments*

Banking network in Canada
(millions)

United States

RBC Centura has 350 banking centres and 390 ATMs serving the Southeast. In 2007, we opened nine new branches, acquired 39 AmSouth branches in Alabama and added 17 branches in Georgia when we acquired Flag Financial Corporation. We expect to add 103 branches following the close of our acquisition of Alabama National BanCorporation* (ANB) and seven through new construction. We offer telephone and Internet banking, and our customers can use their Pocket Check and credit cards at more than 800 Presto! ATMs located in Publix Super Markets. We specialize in serving individuals, businesses, business owners and professionals and we offer customers the new option of remote deposit capture.

Busy consumers with wireless global positioning satellite devices can now easily locate an RBC branch or ATM anywhere in continental North America.

Branches in Local Communities

RBC has programs for assessing the impact of any decisions to add or remove branches in local communities. In Canada, we comply with federal legislation in our commitment to:

• Provide clients and communities with four months advance notice of network reconfigurations/branch closures (six months notice in the case of rural communities where there is no other financial institution within a 10 km radius); and
  
  
• Ensure community leaders and public officials are aware of our reconfiguration initiatives and have an understanding of service alternatives for the affected communities.

Account Opening

RBC is committed to ensuring the process of opening an account is as straightforward as possible, while still meeting regulatory requirements. In plain language and available in multiple languages, our documents clearly outline the requirements to open an account and meet our verification of funds policy.

Low-Income and Underserved Clients

RBC is committed to providing banking access to low-income and previously underserved clients through initiatives like:

• Our low-cost Canadian deposit account: one of the industry's most flexible, offering 15 debit transactions for a low, flat fee;
  
  
• A no-down-payment mortgage: eliminating the biggest barrier for would-be homeowners in Canada;
  
  
• Affordable mortgage options and first-time buyer workshops in the U.S.;
  
  
• Agency banking: access to basic banking for remote Aboriginal communities offered through innovative partnerships with local agents;
  
  
• Cash & Save banking services for people who may not have a bank account, offered in smaller premises for inner-city Toronto markets.

Seniors

RBC is sensitive to the specific banking needs and concerns of the growing population of seniors. We offer specialized deposit and insurance options for seniors, including free banking and monthly rebates on bank accounts. We also provide training and presentation material to employees across Canada, enabling them to meet with groups of seniors to discuss financial fraud.

Students and Youth

RBC offers a variety of banking and credit products tailored to meet young people's needs. For clients under 19 in Canada, our Leo's Young Savers Account® includes 15 free debit transactions monthly. We also contribute a $5 deposit into accounts opened for children under 12, giving kids a head start on saving and everyday banking. In 2007, RBC launched several new initiatives for university and college students including "no monthly fee" free student banking packages, more scholarships, an online information exchange and peer mentoring forums.

RBC Centura offers students and their families a number of web resources to help choose, plan and finance a college education. This includes advice on choosing the right college, descriptions of financing and aid programs, and a number of tools to calculate the costs and value of higher education. Learn more.

People with Disabilities

For clients with special needs, RBC's goal is to ensure equal access to premises and services. RBC has a strong record of making accessibility improvements and involving our clients and other stakeholders in the process.

Branches, ATMs and statements

• Approximately 90 per cent of RBC bank branches are wheelchair accessible.
  
  
• In 2007, clients had access to 600 "talking" bank machines across Canada. More than 800 machines are ergonomically designed so that people in wheelchairs have easier access.
  
  
• Alternate formats for our print materials include large type, audio cassettes, Braille and e-text. Over 750 RBC clients receive Braille statements.
  
  
• Our physical locations are audited periodically for accessibility to identify and remove barriers to people with disabilities. Every new RBC branch must be wheelchair accessible and, wherever possible, we exceed legal requirements for access. All RBC U.S. banking and administrative facilities built or renovated since the 1990s have met or exceeded Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
  
  
• We worked with the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) to shape their industry standard for barrier-free banking machines, and we were the first bank worldwide to provide audio-enabled ATMs. Our prototype has been adopted as the de facto standard by both the CSA and other standards bodies around the world.

Telephone and online banking

• Royal Direct® has a special number that can be accessed using a Teletype Writer (TTY) device, giving hearing-impaired clients 24/7 access to our telephone banking services.
  
  
• We make every effort to ensure that our websites and online services are accessible to people with disabilities or special needs. Our online standards enable access using a broad range of technologies such as different browsers and operating systems, personal digital assistants, and mobile phones. RBC is among the Canadian pioneers who are applying the web content accessibility guidelines developed by The World Wide Web Consortium.
  

Aboriginal Communities

In addition to eight Canadian branches located on reserves and six branches "North of 60," RBC has established six agency banking outlets with aboriginal communities in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario, enabling remote areas to access financial services using RBC systems and infrastructure. In 2008, we plan to open another agency in Saskatchewan.

Our dedicated team of specialized aboriginal banking market managers, account managers and risk managers understands the unique lending issues and financial service needs of aboriginal governments, businesses and communities. The team harnesses its expertise to provide proactive financial advice and solutions to our aboriginal banking clients across Canada.

Fifty-three First Nations participate in our On-Reserve Housing Loan Program, which helps more families enjoy the long-term benefits of home ownership and investing. A number of mortgage and housing policy changes now allow bands to offer housing to non-First Nation peoples, improving the reserve's economic viability.

In 2007, RBC formed a strategic alliance with the Native Commercial Credit Corporation, to facilitate access to capital for aboriginal entrepreneurs in Quebec. As a result, we are now able to provide residential leasehold mortgage financing for self-governing bands to First Nation and non-First Nation peoples.

Newcomers to Canada
RBC wants to be the financial institution of choice for newcomers to Canada and to serve the needs of the communities and cultures they represent. We are committed to making it easier for newcomers to succeed.

For example, new immigrants to Canada find our policies more attuned to their circumstances. Our Secured Visa Option has already helped thousands of newcomers begin building a credit history in Canada, and our Equity Mortgage Program has enabled more newcomers to buy homes.

People who Speak Different Languages

• As a group, RBC employees speak more than 100 languages.
  
  
• Combined, RBC call centre employees speak 60 languages.
  
  
• Combined, our mobile mortgage specialists speak more than 35 languages.
  
  
• We have a dedicated telephone number for Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking clients (1-888-769-2598).
  
  
• Our "Welcome to Canada" website is available in French, English and simplified Chinese.
  
  
• We have dedicated Chinese language telephone representatives and a Chinese language option on our banking machines at 1,205 locations across Canada.
  
  
• Consumers can use our online branch and ATM locator to search our network by location, hours and language preference.
  
  
• In the U.S., RBC Centura has about 75 employees who speak Spanish fluently and all of our banking machines are bilingual.
  
  
• RBC Centura offers a telephone language interpretation service to assist clients who cannot speak English.
  
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Microcredit

Microcredit or "microfinance" is considered an effective approach to alleviating global poverty. Microfinance consists of small loans of usually less than $200 that are provided by organizations or financial institutions to individuals so that they can establish or expand small, self-sustaining businesses. Many of these loans are given to women, and loans are generally facilitated through a financial institution’s retail delivery channel located on the ground in developing nations.

We are often asked if RBC is involved in microcredit, but we are not. In fact, we are not in the retail banking business in developing nations outside of the Caribbean region. There, while we do support some charitable programs that provide small loans for individuals to pursue education or business opportunities, the direct provision of micro-credit is not part of our business strategy.

We serve low-income clients in Canada and the United States, and provide credit and financing expertise to small businesses in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. We report our provision of credit to small businesses in Canada annually in our Corporate Responsibility Report and Public Accountability Statement.

Internationally, we serve corporate, institutional, public sector and business clients with investment banking, trading, correspondent banking and reinsurance needs. In terms of retail services, we provide private banking and wealth management services for high net worth individuals internationally.

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