Changing your name with Royal Bank of Scotland

How do I change my name with Royal Bank of Scotland?#

Royal Bank of Scotland gives three ways to tell it about a new name: its app, which it calls the quickest, Telephone Banking, or a branch. Through the app or by phone, RBS says your name is updated in 2 to 4 working days. It accepts a deed poll "enrolled or unenrolled", so you do not need a new passport first, and its page mentions no fee.

• In the app. You complete an eForm in the app, then email an image of your document. The steps are below.
• By Telephone Banking. You need your Telephone and Digital Banking login details, which RBS says are the same, and a member of its team takes you through the change. RBS's change of details page gives the number.
• In a branch. Take your debit card, photographic ID and your documents; staff ask you to tap in your PIN to check it is you. RBS's branch locator finds the nearest.

If an RBS credit card is the only thing you hold, RBS asks you to call the number on the back of the card instead. Its page gives no time for a branch change.

What does RBS ask to see?#

RBS sorts its list by why your name changed, not by which part of it changed.

On deed polls RBS is plain. One "can be enrolled or unenrolled", and it calls the second kind a "Make Your Own Deed Poll". An enrolled deed poll is one recorded at the High Court; an unenrolled one is signed by you in front of witnesses and kept, as ours are. RBS adds that a deed poll registered in Scotland "will be known as a 'Change of Name Deed'", so a Scottish deed under that name is on its list too (is a change of name deed the same as a deed poll?). Its list does not mention a change recorded with National Records of Scotland; if that is your evidence, ask RBS first.

In a branch the list differs slightly. For divorce RBS also accepts the decree absolute with a passport in your former name; for separation, the marriage certificate with identification and proof of address; for adoption, a deed poll letter, or identification and proof of address.

The same process as NatWest#

Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest are both NatWest Group brands, and their change of details pages match almost line for line: the same app steps and eForm, the same email with an image, the same 2 to 4 working days and the same list of documents. Three things differ. RBS's online service is called Digital Banking, not Online Banking; RBS has its own Telephone Banking number; and the email address its page displays is ChangeofName@rbs.com, though the link behind that address opens a message to ChangeofName@Natwest.com, the address on NatWest's page. RBS does not say whether both reach the same team. Changing your name with NatWest covers NatWest's side.

Using the app, step by step#

Before you start, RBS asks you to download the app, register for biometric security and have to hand the document showing your full new legal name.

1. Open your profile. Log in and tap your initials or picture at the top left of the screen.
2. Choose Personal details, then the arrow next to your legal name.
3. Review your current name details and pass the biometric check.
4. Complete the eForm with your new legal name.
5. Email an image of your document, with your current name, main account number and sort code in the subject line.

The email is a separate step from the eForm, and RBS asks for both. Photograph the whole document, so that every signature, the witnesses' details and the date can be read. RBS says it will contact you if it needs anything more.

Do I need a new passport first?#

No. Some banks accept an unenrolled deed poll only beside a passport or driving licence in the new name: Lloyds and Bank of Scotland are two. RBS sets no such condition, so it can be one of the first places you tell.

That helps with the rest. HM Passport Office asks for your deed poll and one document showing you already use the new name, and the guidance its staff work from lists a bank statement issued in the last 12 months. DVLA, when your evidence is a deed poll, also wants one document in the new name, and a UK bank statement is on its list. Once RBS has changed your name, its statement can be that document. HM Passport Office and DVLA have their own guides.

Mortgages, titles and gender#

• Your mortgage. RBS's change of details page sets out one change of name process and no separate one for mortgages. Adding or removing a borrower is something else, which RBS calls a Transfer of Title: everyone added or removed must agree and sign, RBS checks the mortgage is still affordable, no more than two people can be on a mortgage, and you instruct your own solicitor, registered with Legal Marketing Services. RBS's tariff of charges, dated December 2025, puts the change of parties fee at £185, which RBS says it refunds if the transfer does not go ahead. If the change is part of a divorce, RBS suggests waiting until the court proceedings are finished.
• The property register. Your lender's record and the title to your home are separate: HM Land Registry in England and Wales, and Registers of Scotland or Land Registry in Northern Ireland.
• Titles. A title change needs no documents: RBS suggests a chat with Cora in the app or Digital Banking, starting with "Change of title". It can change a title only to one that matches the gender it holds for you, or to a gender-neutral title such as Mx (Mx and other gender-neutral titles).
• Gender. A change of gender is made on a form in a branch, without documents, though RBS can record only male or female for now. One branch form can change your name, title and gender together.

RBS's page says nothing about joint accounts or children's accounts, or whether new cards follow a change of name; ask through its contact page. For other banks, changing your name with your bank compares how they work.