Enjoy complete control of your business banking online with security you can trust.
Bankline is available to those who have a Royal Bank of Scotland business current account. Fees may apply.
Take control of your business finances with Bankline, our online banking service.
Manage multiple business accounts, see all your transactions in real time and make secure domestic and international payments – all you need is a Royal Bank of Scotland business current account.
We charge a monthly fee (dependent on usage), plus individual fees for making payments.
Get online access to real-time banking information. Once a registration has been approved, that user can add additional accounts themselves – there's no limit to the number of users.
Import payment files and get instant, accurate views of your finances. Send money quickly and cheaply using standard domestic payments, CHAPS, Faster Payments or international payments.
System administrators have complete control over users, roles and functionality. Payment limits can also be set for individual users.
View accounts individually or in groups, access recordings of key activities for auditing purposes and see online copies of paper vouchers such as cheques.
Bankline keeps your finances safer with the latest security and encryption technology. Multi-level password, PIN and user ID protection, smart card security for making payments and Trusteer Rapport for extra protection.
Get support from our FAQs, user guides and the Bankline telephone helpdesk. And there’s no need to download new software – updates are made automatically.
Bankline gives you complete control of your accounts. You can tailor the access rights and user privileges for each of your accounts to suit your business needs, and view balances in real time.
Your accounts
You can register and access up to 999 of your company’s sterling or currency accounts held with Royal Bank of Scotland, including accounts held by subsidiaries. Accounts can be added or removed whenever you like.
Payment limits
Your business can set a payment limit for single payments made from your accounts, and the level at which authorisation is required to process it. You can also set individual payment limits for each of your users.
View balances
Bankline allows you to view balances in several different ways.
These include:
Please note: only balance information for accounts held with us are available in real-time in Bankline. This means that items are shown as they are received and processed during the day. However, items are subject to verification and possible reversal or adjustment.
While this provides an indication of the balance which can be paid from your accounts, items can still be returned unpaid and this balance doesn't guarantee that finality has been achieved on these items. For example, funds may show as cleared for interest and available funds purposes, however, you should allow at least four working days before you use the money from a cheque paid in. In some cases cheques may still come back unpaid after this time.
Process payments and transfers immediately, the next business day or on a date you choose. You can view all payments and inter-account transfers that have been confirmed and see the real-time status of the transaction progress.
Domestic payments
Your business can make payments using Faster Payments or CHAPS through Bankline.
International payments
When transferring funds between any of your sterling and currency accounts registered in Bankline, you can choose the currency you wish the transfer to be made in. For international payments or currency inter-account transfers, you can book a foreign exchange rate in advance or let Bankline automatically book a rate for you.
International Payment Service - Terms and Conditions
Inter-account transfers (IATs)
Your business can transfer funds between sterling and currency accounts registered on Bankline as often as you like. In most cases the transferred funds are visible and available for use immediately. Interest continues to be calculated on the closing balances of your accounts every day.
If your business holds accounts with Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest, you can transfer funds between these accounts as a Faster Payment (value up to £250,000).
Templates/Bulk Lists
If you make regular payments to the same beneficiary, you can save time by creating a template for future use. It's also easy to create a template for regular IATs.
Payment file import and data export
Payment files can be imported into Bankline from accounting systems such as Sage and Pegasus as a comma separated variable (CSV) file format or BACSTEL- IP format.
You can also export account information from Bankline enabling you to manipulate it into a more convenient format, or use it in other applications. Data can be exported in a range of formats: Bankline (.csv), SWIFT and BAI version 2.
Manage everyday banking over the internet – safely and securely. Proven, industry standard security includes multi-level passwords, PINs and user ID protection.
Log on security
When you log on to Bankline, encrypted information protect your details. Logging on requires a combination of unique passwords, PINs and user IDs to access the service. You can even decide how often users must change their passwords for optimum security.
Restricted access
Only designated users for your business can access Bankline. When you start using the service, we'll give your organisation a unique ID code (the ‘Customer ID') and other security information.
Security & payments
To make payments or some inter-account transfers you'll need authorisation via a smartcard and smartcard reader, giving you another layer of security. You will have an appointed Bankline administrator within your business who will be issued with a smartcard, and they can create additional authorised users.
Each authorised user has their own smartcard, which is used in conjunction with a smartcard reader. Without the smartcard, the transaction or change can’t be made.
Keeping your information secure
Bankline security protects the connection between our secure server and your browser. We also monitor and defend against attacks.
Audit logs
Enjoy full control of who uses the service and what they can do. You can limit the functions each user can perform, by defining individual account access. If you need to investigate transactions, your administrator can request the audit log.
Once you start using Bankline, we’ll store your balance and transaction data and so that you can access up to 15 months’ data online.
We’ll store audit information for seven years (subject to terms and conditions).
Your system
We recommend your organisation maintains up-to-date anti-virus and firewall software on all computers, to protect you from new threats as they emerge.
Phishing for information
Fraudsters use many techniques to obtain customers' passwords and security credentials. We’ll never ask you for a complete set of security details on any web page or via email.
External account reporting lets you view accounts held with other banks within your Bankline profile. This gives you greater control over your cash management. Plus the convenience of being able to view and export account information for all your accounts along with your accounts held with us.
The external account holding bank will send SWIFT MT940 and MT942 messages to us containing balance and transaction information for the accounts authorised for reporting.
• SWIFT MT940 messages provide end of day balance and transaction details for a specific account.
• SWIFT MT942 messages provide details of interim transactions for a specific account.
The account holding bank will send these messages to us so you can view any transactions applied to your account since the last MT940 or MT942 issued. It's important that you check with your relationship manager at the external bank that they are able to generate MT942 messages.
Next steps?
Contact your relationship manager to discuss the External Account Reporting Service.
We'll include external accounts you add to your Bankline profile in your account tally. We'll adjust your monthly fee based on the number of accounts within the tariff banding. If you have a bespoke tariff, your relationship manager will be able to advise you.
If you wish to go ahead, your relationship manager will gather some basic information and arrange for a member of the team to get in touch.
Contact your relationship manager, or call the Bankline helpdesk on:
0345 300 4108
Lines open 8am-6pm, Mon-Fri.
To register for Bankline you will need to call our team on:
0345 030 3109
Lines open 9am-5pm, Mon-Fri.
