MSE News: Lloyds to sell branches to Co-op: what it means for you

gettingthere28

I am not sure it will just be the Bank Accounts, Savings Accounts and Mortgages Either !, as with the RBS sale it also included Credit Cards that were open at a branch, so (And I hope not) that your Credit card was opened at a branch which is to be transferred to the co-op then you could end up with a co-op credit card.

I did speak to Lloyds Credit card department who said there had been no offical word on it but yes it was likely that it could happen.

My bank account was opened in Threadneedle Street London and its not closing, but my local branch opened my Credit Card account and that branch (As it is in Scotland) is closing so don't know if my Credit Cards is linked to my Current Account in Threadneedle street or not.

opinions4u

deedee71 wrote: »

MSE Guy, it's more than just the branches. Intelligent Finance mortgage holders like myself may experience a bit more hardship than the rebranding of a bank branch (does it really matter??).

The Co-op SVR is currently 4.24% whereas with IF it's 2.5%.

I do agree with jamesd though, I will probably look at setting up a current account with the Co-op to take advantage of their better rates for customers.

I believe your IF SVR has a contractual link to base rate.

You have nothing to fear.

I Wonder how this will effect myself and others in Scotland as all branches are being sold?

As a betting man, I reckon they'll have a Co-op sign over the door and your accounts will be with Co-op.

If it goes through. Remember, it isn't a done deal.

[Deleted User]

Brian_The_Lion wrote: »

I Wonder how this will effect myself and others in Scotland as all branches are being sold?

Best bet is to phone them and ask I guess.

callum9999

jamesd wrote: »

No time like the present to start moving current accounts to your preferred bank. I generally dislike the concept that I'm someone to be bought and sold.

You aren't being "bought and sold" - your account is. Just like any shopping, catalogue, internet, phone, gas, electric, water etc. account would be should that company be sold.

deedee71

opinions4u wrote: »

I believe your IF SVR has a contractual link to base rate.

Although IF did offer lots of lifetime trackers, sadly that's not the product I have. After 3 years it reverted to SVR not linked to base rate at all.

So I guess the new buyers can take over and put the SVR to whatever they like, especially as it's really the branches they want, not the mortgage business that's been lumped in with them.

opinions4u

deedee71 wrote: »

Although IF did offer lots of lifetime trackers, sadly that's not the product I have. After 3 years it reverted to SVR not linked to base rate at all.

So I guess the new buyers can take over and put the SVR to whatever they like, especially as it's really the branches they want, not the mortgage business that's been lumped in with them.

Condition 14.10

http://www.if.com/pdf/terms_022004.pdf

We will not increase our standalone variable mortgage rate so that it is more than 2% above the Bank of England’s base rate.

System

Kushan wrote: »

I'm very concerned about this. My branch is one of the ones being closed down and I know nothing about the Co-op's banking abilities.

I'm currently trying to build up my credit rating, with the hope of getting a mortgage sometime in the next 12 months, I wish I knew how this would affect me.

Anyone know how switching banks affects your credit rating?

The branches are not being closed, they are being sold.

If you do nothing and hence your account transfers to the CoOp then your credit rating will be unaffected.

If you contact Lloyds and ask them to transfer your account to a branch that is remaining as part of Lloyds then again that should not effect your credit rating since your history moves with the account.

However, if you manually decide to transfer your account to a different bank, then you will have credit searches done on your record and you will start from scratch as a new bank customer with no history at that bank, this would have an impact on your credit rating, although I'm not sure what extent that impact would be.

jennifernil

jamesd wrote: »

No time like the present to start moving current accounts to your preferred bank. I generally dislike the concept that I'm someone to be bought and sold.

Our thoughts too, we will stay with Lloyds.

jennifernil

callum9999 wrote: »

You aren't being "bought and sold" - your account is. Just like any shopping, catalogue, internet, phone, gas, electric, water etc. account would be should that company be sold.

But it is not the company that is being sold, only some branches. I don't know why they should be allowed/forced to sell customers and their accounts too. If I had wanted an account with the Co-op, I would have opened one myself.

callum9999

jennifernil wrote: »

But it is not the company that is being sold, only some branches. I don't know why they should be allowed/forced to sell customers and their accounts too. If I had wanted an account with the Co-op, I would have opened one myself.

I know but the exact same principle lies behind it.

I don't know why they shouldn't be allowed to do that? What do you think they are - a charity? Believe it or not, multinationals don't base their decisions on what their customers want, but on what they want (yes, this often correlates with what the customer wants as they need to attract business, but not always). If you want to stay with Lloyds then I'm sure they will have some kind of mechanism where you could change the home branch to a branch they aren't selling.