NatWest, which owns the Royal Bank of Scotland, has formulated a new strategy for the business, including plans to offer new products for savers, expand its credit card division and take advantage of flexible working practices, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the planned operational overhaul.

The tax-payer-owned lender has experienced an increase in customers using digital channels to access its services during the pandemic.

Alison Rose, the bank’s chief executive, said at its annual results last month that video banking had risen from less than 100 meetings a week in January 2020 to about 15,000 a week 12 months later.

Part of the new strategy would involve a more flexible service in which branches will offer video meetings with customers in the evenings, The Times reports.

The revamp will be the latest overhaul by Rose since she took the reins at NatWest in November 2019. She has already reduced NatWest’s investment banking division and discarded Bó, a mobile banking brand, less than six months after it was launched.

Last month, she announced plans for a phased withdrawal from the Republic of Ireland, where NatWest’s Ulster Bank business has long suffered from poor profitability and high costs.

A NatWest spokesman said: “Our purpose-led strategy is focused on improving customer service, combining access to great digital services with the best people and ways for customers to reach them more quickly.

“We’re working to simplify and improve the products and service we offer to make it more straightforward and attractive to save, organise and invest to help our customers achieve their financial goals throughout their lives.”