Watchdog rejects bank's complaint

The Royal Bank of Scotland was supported by ad watchdogs

The Bank of Scotland (BoS) has had its complaint about a rival's claim dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority.

It was unhappy about the Royal Bank of Scotland's boast that it was best for business customers.

BoS said the advert was misleading and that it had a poll showing larger firms with a turnover of more than £25m per year preferred its services.

But the authority has backed the claims of the Royal Bank.

RBS said it had based its advertising on a poll carried out last summer, which suggested more business customers were satisfied with its service than that of its competitor.

The bank said it scrutinised rivals' adverts

Watchdogs rejected the BoS's complaint that the claim was misleading.

The ASA said in its judgement that - overall - a higher percentage of the firms polled were satisfied with the RBS than with the BoS.

A Bank of Scotland spokesman said: "We regularly scrutinise our competitors' advertising to check for accuracy.

"Where we see inconsistencies we investigate them. We were the first bank to introduce comparative advertising and it is important that we keep each other on our toes."