RBS and NatWest announce change to SVR

Following the Bank of England's announcement to reduce base rate to 1.00%, NatWest and RBS have confirmed that its Standard Variable rate will be cut to 4.00% from 4.19%, effective 1 March 2009.

All customers with tracker mortgages that track the Bank of England Base rate will benefit in full from the base rate reduction.

The decision to reduce its SVR by 0.19% reflects the Bank's desire to strike a balance between the interests of both its savers and borrowers. Paul Geddes, Chief Executive, RBS Retail Banking commented:

"Both NatWest and RBS Standard Variable Rates continue to remain competitive in the market at 4.00%. Our SVR has seen combined cuts of 3.19% over the last five months and we continue to offer a suite of highly competitive fixed rate mortgages to the market.

When determining reductions to our mortgage rates it's important to consider the needs of our saving customers and following this Bank of England base rate change, on average we will be reducing rates by less than 0.19% across our savings products."