RBS has admitted forging a Moray pensioner’s signature on an official document.
The bank has issued a formal apology and £500 to retired teacher Jean Mackay, from Forres, after she came forward with paperwork that showed her name had been faked on an official document.
The great-grandmother said RBS began charging her for payment protection insurance despite her declining it.
When the 82-year-old challenged the bank, staff gave her a document purporting to show she had agreed to the fees.
However, two signatures on the same document – one agreeing to take out a credit card, the other apparently agreeing to pay PPI – are markedly different.
The bank subsequently refunded her fees, but refused to admit the document had been forged. However, it has now apologised and offered compensation.
Mrs Mackay spent six years pursuing the matter with the bank, but had to give up in 2014 while she was battling cancer.
However when a whistleblower’s revelations that bank staff were trained to forge signatures became public, which RBS has denied, she took up her fight again.
Mrs Mackay said: “It was a fraud, not my signature. If I had forged my name on something, it would be a police matter.”
The bank has since acknowledged that staff were given a bonus in the past if they could sign up customers to extra services such as PPI, a practice which has ended.
A spokesman for the bank added: “The incident took place nearly 10 years ago, so we are unable to look at the case again in detail.
“However, a full investigation was carried out and it was found to be an isolated incident in that branch. We would like to offer a sincere apology and compensation of £500.”
