The Church Commissioners is understood to have joined a consortium including Standard Life and Standard Chartered which is vying to bid for RBS branches.

RBS has to divest its 315 branches under European state aid rules as it received a £45bn taxpayer bailout at the height of the financial downturn. Santander UK was set to buy the branches for an estimated £1.65bn, but the deal fell through last October.

According to national press reports, the Church Commissioners, which manages a £5.5bn investment portfolio, has joined a consortium looking to buy the branches.

The consortium, put together by Lord Davies, a former Labour minister and boss of Standard Chartered, includes the Church Commissioners, Lord Rothchild’s RIT Capital, Centrebridge and Standard Life.

At least two other rival groups of investors and private equity houses want to bid for the RBS branches, including a consortium of more than 20 asset management companies, including Schroders and Threadneedle, who have chosen former Tesco finance director Andrew Higginson to lead their bid.

A Church Commissioners spokesman declined to comment on any involvement in a consortium to bid for RBS branches.

The Church Commissioners manage investments on behalf of the Church of England. It is at number 21 in the Charity 100 Index with an income of £143.2m.