PORTMAN BUILDING SOCIETY-bonus

MiserlyMartin

Whats to stop Nationwide raising their SVR or Portman lowering theirs. They aren't set in stone. I think that arguemment for Yes is laughable.

That was just a snippet of the reasons to vote no. I wouldn't want to be accused of spamming by posting more from the site. I seriously doubt its got anything to do with cash machines. I don't know who's behind it. Ever heard of LINK?

Biggles

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

3) Interest on pence in a share or deposit account:
Portman does calculate interest on pence
Nationwide will NOT calculate interest on pence

Wow! Lead me to that 'No' box!
;-)

ReportInvestor

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

Whats to stop Nationwide raising their SVR or Portman lowering theirs.

Re the Portman, they would have to think twice because of the large number of teaser rate deals with penalty fees that they offered over the last five years and which are still running.

plumb1_2

I have voted a big NO as the payment should be a min of £400. Nationwide are getting Portman on the cheap
Your Portman directors are getting Big Fat Cat seats on the Nationwide Board.
Mutuality? for the benifit of the members? or the directors?

plumb1_2

sunny_money wrote: »

used to be ex lambeth and on q and a from portman today says that lambeth members become members of portman on 30 sept 2006 , but the date for qualifing for bonus is 11 sept 2006 , so what is going on ??

Nationwide tricks to stop you getting a payment.

Speculator

sunny_money wrote: »

used to be ex lambeth and on q and a from portman today says that lambeth members become members of portman on 30 sept 2006 , but the date for qualifing for bonus is 11 sept 2006 , so what is going on ??

I am sure Lambeth members will qualify. Copied from http://www.portman.co.uk/Lambeth_Q&A.pdf

Will the proposed merger affect the
merger between Portman and Lambeth?
No, the merger between Portman and Lambeth
will complete on 30 September 2006, as planned.
Lambeth members will become members of
Portman Building Society on that date, with the
same voting rights as Portman members.
Qualifying Portman members who were previously
members of Lambeth will receive a merger bonus
in respect of the merger between Portman and
Nationwide. Details of the bonus arrangements
will be sent to former members of Lambeth who
become eligible members of Portman, as part of
the AGM mailing, in early 2007.
Lambeth branches will be subject to the same
review as Portman branches. Those branches that
are retained will be rebranded Nationwide.

kwt

I've just voted no. Had Portman acccounts for 30 years, so I'd rather hold on and see what happens. I think Nationwide will get Portman on the cheap.

I can see the merger going through though, unless the Vote No campaign really gets going

MarkyMarkD

You're not correct. Lambeth members will become deemed Portman eligible members once the Lambeth/Portman merger takes place, and will hence get two lots of windfalls.

MiserlyMartin

I've voted a big NO too. Its only £160 after tax to lose the Portman forever. Portman are the 2nd largest building society aren't they? If Portman become swallowed up into Nationwide we'll have even less alternative to banks than we do today, if Nationwide then convert to a bank. I'm less than impressed with Nationwide lately. They are behaving more and more like a bank everyday. Especially with that new Chief Exec talking about charging a monthly fee for Flexaccounts recently. That'll soon eat up your bonus.

And remember, ex Portman members won't get a windfall from nationwide if they convert either so no winners here.

Vote No.

MarkyMarkD

Your reading of the Portman document is very strange indeed.

Given that it's obvious that any Lambeth member who was ALREADY an eligible Portman member, would get a Portman/Nationwide payout, why do you imagine they bothered writing the words:

Qualifying Portman members who were previously members of Lambeth will receive a merger bonus in respect of the merger between Portman and Nationwide. Details of the bonus arrangements will be sent to former members of Lambeth who become eligible members of Portman, as part of the AGM mailing, in early 2007.

It is very clearly the intent of this wording that:

- Lambeth members become eligible members of Portman as a result of the merger; and therefore
- Lambeth members who have become eligible members of Portman will get a payout.

Any Lambeth member who didn't have the necessary money in their Lambeth account on 11 September would not be an eligible Portman members and, therefore, wouldn't get a payout.

Your point about Portman members feeling hard done by is academic - Lambeth members become eligible Portman members under the terms of the Portman/Lambeth merger and that's the end of it.

There isn't any lack of equity - if a Lambeth member had £100 in their account on the eligible date, and a Portman member had £100 in their account on the eligible date, they'll both get the same amount. What's wrong with that?

You will note that Portman members are also deemed to be Nationwide members from the date their Portman membership started - this backdating thing isn't unusual, it's in the nature of mergers.