he Royal Bank of Scotland
(RBS) will be investigated In November 2004, the limit on Mr
following suggestions that Cullen's Tesco Personal Finance
irresponsible lending by them was card, (a card which is operated
the cause of the suicide of one by RBS), was increased by £1,000
of its customers. to £7,700, despite the fact that
two weeks earlier RBS had been
Richard Cullen, 65, took his own chasing him for arrears owed on
life in January 2005 after his Mint credit card.
amassing credit card debts of
£130,000 - £35,000 of which was In total the mechanic owed RBS
owed to the RBS group. more than double his annual
salary. Spread over four cards,
Banking watchdog, the Banking the RBS debt cost him more than
Code Standards Board (BCSB), will £4,200 in interest and charges in
now investigate RBS's lending the 12 months running up to his
practices amid concerns that it death.
failed to put two and two
together and appreciate the Mr Fortescue confirmed that the
extent of Mr Cullen's debt BCSC is seeking the authority of
problems. the Cullen family to conduct a
probe into the practices of the
I find it extraordinary that this bank.
has happened, chief executive
Seymour Fortescue told BBC's Meanwhile, the bank has defended
Panorama, I think it is a case of itself against charges of
the right hand not knowing what irresponsible lending.
the left hand is doing and there
is no excuse for that. This is In a statement issued to Panorama
wrong. The Royal Bank of Scotland said:
Mr Cullen did not make us aware
of the extent of the debt of Mr Cullen also owed money on a
approximately £100,000, he further 18 credit cards held with
subsequently incurred with 16 different providers.
other providers. We have a
rigorous and responsible process © Adfero Ltd
for managing customer debt.
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