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

Dr_Cuckoo3

gettingthere28 wrote: »

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.

Intelligent Finance still have a credit card portfolio , these transferred to Halifax and then back to IF when the sale was announced

If Lloyds TSB credit cards held by customers transferring to COOP are retained by Lloyds , what is to stop Lloyds cross - selling its current account to these credit card customers ?

I have no opinion on the matter though

I doubt that IF customers will be transferred to smile , despite the similarities between the brands

System

They are basically getting what was TSB Scotland as Lloyds only had a handful of Scottish branches. I wouldn't say that they are especially rural but rather welcome injection of competition with LBG currently operating 2 of the 'big 4' Scottish banks.

I also think they will make a good challenger bank in England and Wales with one of the top customer satisfaction ratings for a real branch based bank combined with slightly more competitive products on the high street.

It a shame that LBG didn't sell off (either together with this or separately) Halifax too.

realaledrinker wrote: »

The English branches listed as Lloyds in fact have a bias towards ex Halifax premises.

Plus does a bank with designs to join the Big 5 really need so many rural Scottish branches??

opinions4u

realaledrinker wrote: »

The English branches listed as Lloyds in fact have a bias towards ex Halifax premises.

Plus does a bank with designs to join the Big 5 really need so many rural Scottish branches??

There isn't a single Halifax branch on the list.

What makes you think there is?

Heng_Leng wrote: »

They are basically getting what was TSB Scotland as Lloyds only had a handful of Scottish branches. I wouldn't say that they are especially rural but rather welcome injection of competition with LBG currently operating 2 of the 'big 4' Scottish banks.

I think it speaks volumes for the Lloyds TSB retail business that, when faced with a demand to sell branches, the ones that they value most are Bank of Scotland and Halifax - so they keep those in entirity.

I also think they will make a good challenger bank in England and Wales with one of the top customer satisfaction ratings for a real branch based bank combined with slightly more competitive products on the high street.

It a shame that LBG didn't sell off (either together with this or separately) Halifax too.

The obvious solution to a requirement to sell off market share was to unwind the HBOS merger. A more competitive market for all. But once Brown and Darling has convinced the rather foolish Eric Daniels to take on HBOS lock stock and barrel, including the BoS commerical banking basket case, they were never simply going to get rid of it again.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

With the areas I recognise, they all appear to be areas with significant deprivation/poverty. A good way to reduce the numbers of basic account holders whilst remaining within the exact letter of the law, I suppose.

opinions4u

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

With the areas I recognise, they all appear to be areas with significant deprivation/poverty.

Wilmslow clearly being a fine example of this. Not to mention some rather moneyed areas where C&G operate.

A good way to reduce the numbers of basic account holders whilst remaining within the exact letter of the law, I suppose.

Basic accounts were excluded from the decision making process that said they had to give up a certain share of the current account market.

So your conspiracy theory is flawed.

dzug1

BAA1 wrote: »

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.

.

It will appear as a new account on your credit report though.

What effect it will have on your credit rating - pass. Possibly slightly negative in terms of your stability score.

zzzLazyDaisy

Mikhail wrote: »

To those who love Lloyds because of the Vantage I recommend to switch to a more decent organisation, i.e., first direct, Nationwide and open e-saver which offers a better rate without any limits..

You are not comparing like with like - the Vantage is a current account. I pay various DD's and feed into a higher interest monthly savings account from my Vantage account, which is not possible from a normal savings account. I can also access my money any time from an ATM, which is also not possible with most savings accounts.

System

dzug1 wrote: »

It will appear as a new account on your credit report though.

What effect it will have on your credit rating - pass. Possibly slightly negative in terms of your stability score.

With the RBS branch sale, the specific question about effects on credit rating has been answered.

Q.

Will I be credit scored again as this affects my credit rating?


A.

No, you will not be credit scored as part of the transfer

And the account history is transfered as part of the sale so it will not appear as a new account.


I would expect that the regulations would make sure that the Lloyds to Coop deal will ensure that noone's credit rating can be effected by the sale.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

opinions4u wrote: »

Wilmslow clearly being a fine example of this. Not to mention some rather moneyed areas where C&G operate.

Basic accounts were excluded from the decision making process that said they had to give up a certain share of the current account market.

So your conspiracy theory is flawed.

Boscombe.

Eltham.

Chatham.

Elephant & Castle.


(Plus quite a few others)


Such aspirational locations.


I was thinking less conspiracy and more as business sense - as getting rid of the less profitable areas. Like tax avoidance compared to tax evasion.

opinions4u

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Boscombe.

Eltham.

Chatham.

Elephant & Castle.


(Plus quite a few others)


Such aspirational locations.

More a sign that banks operate in a range of different locations, rich, average and poor.

My days with Halifax taught me that inner-city areas could actually be more profitable than posh places if managed well. The wealthier are more likely to use IFAs and mortgage brokers. The masses are more likely to use their bank.

I suspect a number of the locations put up for Verde will be old TSB branches where there's a duplicate Lloyds branch nearby. But, regardless of this, there's a clearly defined market share that has to be sold with these branches. Selling off the riff-raff and retaining the higher quality portfolios won't acheive that.