Cloud accounting firm FreeAgent strikes RBS tie-up deal

Edinburgh-based accounting software specialist Freeagent has landed a partnership deal with Royal Bank of Scotland, having fought off competition from more than 30 rivals.

The new tie-up, which includes RBS subsidiary NatWest, will see the banking giants offer FreeAgent services to their small business customers across the whole of the UK throughout 2017.

The partnership was announced at an event at RBS’s global HQ in Edinburgh.

FreeAgent boss and co-founder Ed Molyneux, said: “Given that our relationship with RBS only started in October, we do not expect a material revenue contribution from licences sold under the agreement for the year ending 31 March 2017. However, we are naturally excited about the potential for this agreement.”

He added: “By moving onto the FreeAgent platform, we hope life will become easier for these small business owners (who in many cases have to do their accounting themselves) by allowing them to concentrate on running their businesses.

“This is a really exciting partnership for us and we look forward to developing our relationship with Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest throughout the rest of 2017 and beyond.”

Marcelino Castrillo, managing director of business and private banking at RBS, said: “The way customers want to bank with us is constantly changing, so it is important for us to innovate. From over 30 vendor proposals we chose Freeagent because of their willingness to collaborate with us and shape a proposition that really works for our customers, as well as the capability of their platform.”