RBS offers legal documentation to small business clients

The Royal Bank of Scotland launched a product that will provide legal documentation and advice to its small business customers this week.

The service, Smarta Business Builder, incorporates a range of online accounting, business and legal services, with legal software provided by Epoq.

The package provides business clients with a suite of legal documents required to set up a business, such as shareholder agreements.

Premium users can also access legal advice provided by FirstAssist Services.

Graham Cohen, chief product and technology officer at Epoq, told the Gazette that although the RBS move could be an indication of the direction that banks were taking in relation to legal services, law firms would not necessarily be squeezed out of the market.

He said: ‘This is an example of what is going on out there… Law firms need to head that off at the pass by making sure their clients can access services in a similar way.’

Cohen said that while law firms could use software to offer services via the internet, their key advantage over other providers was that they could combine this with a personal service.