Natwest sale threatens IT jobs

A majority of Natwest shareholders have finally agreed to the Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) takeover offer, but the announcement has left hundreds of IT jobs hanging in the balance.

The £21 billion takeover will result in an estimated 18,000 job cuts - around a quarter of the two banks' combined workforce. But Natwest said today it was too early to say how many of these jobs would be IT related.

However, RBS has previously said it intended to replace the bank's application software with its own software and claimed Natwest would save £290 million through the switch and other IT related measures.

A spokesman for Natwest said it was also too early to say what would become of the bank's online banking plans. Natwest claims that more than 100,000 people have signed up for its online banking service since it launched in November last year.

The combined bank will be headquartered in Edinburgh and will start with 2,400 branches and 15 million customers, which represents more than a quarter of the British population.