Edinburgh-based Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) plans to invest GBP6 billion on IT and marketing over the next five years to mitigate inefficiency stemming from integration of acquired businesses, reported computing.co.uk.

Stephen Hester, chief executive of RBS said that the investment is expected to flow towards reversing the negative effect of intensive business integrations, overall lack of investment in technology and failure to build a consolidated IT platform.

Mr. Hester informed the delegates at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference in London that previously RBS had invested more in disparate systems inherited from acquired businesses, rather than changing the bank.

The bank’s redundancy programme is underway. Earlier, RBS revealed that approximately 2,300 UK back-office jobs, which includes IT workers, would be eliminated, reported Yahoo, quoting V3.co.uk as its source.

Reportedly, RBS has shed some 16,00 jobs in 2008 and auctioned off unprofitable business lines as it bids to reduce its cost base by approximately GBP2.5 billion by 2011, reported finextra.com.