In a statement today, the group confirmed the cuts would be to head office roles and that no customer-facing staff would be affected.
It said it was trying to redeploy staff in other roles in avoid redundancies.
Ross McEwan, chief executive of RBS UK retail, said the changes would mean money was spent on new services for customers.
He said: "To serve our customers well we have to ensure that our resources are focused on the things that matter most to them. That is why we are investing £700 million in the next three years in new and improving services.
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"Regrettably, we can only do that by restructuring the way we work in head office so that every effort is concentrated on supporting our customers and the frontline staff that serve them.
"This is clearly difficult news for our staff and we will do everything we can to support them, including seeking redeployment opportunities wherever possible to ensure compulsory redundancies are a last resort."
The cuts are the latest in a series of job losses for the financial services sector.
In April HSBC announced it would be cutting over 3,000 staff from its wealth business while AXA is cutting its branch-based financial advice service causing 450 job losses.

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