Thursday 27 September 2018 9:31 pm | Updated: Tuesday 21 May 2019 4:25 pm

RBS’ new digital bank to be called Bo

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Royal Bank of Scotland is understood to be exploring the launch of a digital-only standalone consumer bank, which will go live under the name Bo.

Charging forward with RBS’ former operations chief Mark Bailie at the helm, roughly 100 staff are thought to have been briefed on the project’s name, sources told Sky News.

Bo is expected to launch to customers in 2019, with the aim of migrating 1m Natwest customers to the new mobile platform.

The name, which is believed to be a reference to the words meaning “to live” in Danish, bears a striking resemblance to CYBG’s own digital offshoot bank B.

An RBS spokesperson said the digital bank is just one of many projects it is currently exploring for its customers.

"As part of the bank's wider investment in digital and innovation, RBS is working on a range of projects to better serve our customers in the era of digital and open banking."

RBS was one of several banks to experience serious technical failures last week, which left millions of customers locked out of their bank accounts.

Bo is said to be pitched as a rival to a number of the UK's successful challenger banks, including Monzo, Revolut and Starling Bank, some of whom are currently involved in a bid to win a portion of the RBS' £775m banking prize for small to medium-sized business banking.