RBC wins Global Retail Bank of the Year for third time

Canadian banks dominate at international awards competition

TORONTO, May 12, 2017 /CNW/ - Canada's banking industry shone at the Retail Banker International (RBI) awards competition in London last night, with four Canadian banks winning prizes.

RBC led the way with two awards, including the competition's most coveted prize, Global Retail Bank of the Year.

Having previously won in 2014 and 2015, RBC is the first ever bank to win three times. RBC also won Best Branch Strategy, cementing its spot as the top winner in the competition that attracts hundreds of entries from around the world.

"I'm truly proud of our employees for being recognized for another year of exceptional commitment to our clients, communities and one another," said Dave McKay, RBC's President & Chief Executive Officer. "This award is a direct reflection of their hard work, dedication and passion for excellence and is evidence of how our purpose to help clients thrive and communities prosper continues to guide everything that we do."

"RBC delivered outstanding performance in a variety of key measures including customer service, return on equity, and efficiency ratio," said Douglas Blakey, Group Editor Consumer Finance Titles at London-based Verdict. "Equally important, the bank provided a text-book example of how to manage a large acquisition, with City National producing outstanding results during its first full year as part of RBC. Furthermore, RBC has evolved its distribution strategy to a point where all of its delivery channels, including branches, are providing an integrated experience for customers and generating industry leading results."

Best Branch Strategy Award
With a strategy to provide an exceptional and secure experience that is available to clients how, when and where it is convenient for them, RBC's best-in-class distribution model includes ATMs, call centres, online and mobile channels along with the physical branch network, which remains a key component of this overall mix. The award recognizes RBC's reimagining of the branch network, including the evolution of branch formats and the development of several new alternatives concepts that effectively address the needs of a community and its clients, while continuing to drive successful results.

RBI is one of the world's leading sources of retail banking news and information from around the world. It is part of Verdict, a briefing service which provides market analysis of events, emerging strategy and best practice in finance and professional services sectors on a global basis. More about the RBI Awards 2017.

About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest bank, and one of the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, investor services and capital markets products and services on a global basis. We have over 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 35 other countries. For more information, please visit http://www.rbc.com/.‎

RBC helps communities prosper, supporting a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. For more information please see: http://www.rbc.com/community-sustainability/.

SOURCE RBC Royal Bank

please contact: Shauna Cook, RBC, 416-974-4826, [email protected]