ROSS McEwan has been with Royal Bank of Scotland for less than a year but he has already made a major impact.

He is a strident advocate of technology at a bank that has previously been a slow adopter.

The flipside is that he has outlined plans to cut 10% of UK branches and announced plans for another 1400 job cuts.

For a man who confesses to twice having failed accountancy exams, while at university in his native New Zealand, and who describes himself as being more comfortable with people than with figures, he has had a high-flying career.

He has a decade's worth of experience in retail banking, including five years with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).

This was a business that served nearly 10 million customers - nearly 40% of Australia's population - and which saw a 50% rise in profits during his time there.

He also has experience at senior levels in the insurance and investment industries in Australia and New Zealand.

But he has not run an entire group having decided to move to the UK to become RBS's retail chief executive after missing out on the top job at CBA. And he is untested in his relationships with politicians and regulators, a key skill when running a bank 81% owned by the state.

Don't expect to see a major change of direction under his tenure. In the words of one analyst Mr McEwan's appointment signals "strategic continuity" with RBS under Stephen Hester.

However, his appointment is a signal that a group that once hosted a major investment bank and had operations across the globe is reliant on succeeding in UK retail banking.

In the end, whatever else he achieves, Mr McEwan likely to be judged on whether taxpayers make a profit on RBS shares.