Co-op Takeover of some branches.

bobpat_2

Do the coop also retain the customers of the branches they are buying, or is it just the " bricks & Mortar"?

jonesMUFCforever

Yes some customers will be transferred to the CO-OP.

agrinnall

The sale hasn't actually been confirmed yet, although it does seem to be getting closer to a final decision. But if it happens the same way as the RBS/NatWest sale to Santander then yes, customers will be transferred unless they choose not to be.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hXxEuDCJnQsPITzYpPdDfjAz52Hw?docId=N0168921342163362024A

realaledrinker

The 632 branches the Co-op are buying (expected to be confirmed, finally, in the next week or so) are all Cheltenham & Gloucester branches, all Lloyds branches in Scotland, ex-TSB branches in England and the internet bank, Intelligent Finance.

In order to secure an increase current account market share, Co-op need to hang onto as many account holders as poss in those branches - the bricks and mortar is of no value in itself to the Co-op.

The handover has to take place by next November (2013), at which point the final transaction value can be calculated. Therefore I assume any customers that jump ship in the meantime will have the effect of reducing the final purchase price.

MoneySaverLog

I was kind of hoping we would get a new bank and NBNK would win. Looks like Co-op have sealed Verde then...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9360467/NBNK-to-close-as-Lloyds-agrees-terms-with-the-Co-op.html#

Me - Staying with an unaffected branch of Lloyds TSB :T

pqrdef

This is where it all starts to get very interesting.

When a Lloyds branch becomes a Co-op branch, how long does it carry on selling the Lloyds product range? How soon can it be geared up to sell the Co-op product range? Will there be a time when it has no products to sell at all?

Will existing Co-op customers be able to use ex-Lloyds branches? Or vice versa?

What about the sort codes and account numbers?

Will ex-Lloyds customers keep their existing products, like Vantage, indefinitely, or will they be migrated to inferior Co-op products?

And what about the websites? Do ex-Lloyds customers continue logging on to Lloyds, do they get a reskinned version of the Lloyds website with Co-op branding (like HBOS), or do they have to be migrated to the inferior Co-op website?

At some point customers will start asking "how does this affect me?". And the answer won't be short or simple, it will drag on for years, and people will end up sick and fed up of being mucked about. And not many will think their new bank is an improvement (same goes for RBS and Santander).

Fascinating that it's all being done in the name of competition. Because the attitude of the regulators seems to be that banks are much of a muchness and people can switch their banking to a different bank's product range just as easily as switching to a different brand of tinned peas or toilet paper if their local supermarket changes hands.

But it's not that simple. Vantage is my only reason for being a Lloyds TSB customer at all. Same with packaged accounts - you buy for the particular combination of benefits, so an alternative product is no substitute at all.

rb10

pqrdef, I don't think it'll be any time soon before we find out details like that for the Lloyds sale.

Many of the questions you raise are still unknown for the RBS/Santander sale (although in reverse).

Will ex-RBS customers have their accounts upgraded (or be able to choose to upgrade) to the (in general) better Santander products? Will they be able to use the more functional Santander online banking, or remain with the inferior Santander-branded RBS/Natwest system?

pqrdef

agrinnall wrote: »

customers will be transferred unless they choose not to be.

If they get a choice. RBS recusants in England have been transferred to Scottish branches, bizarrely, but not to NatWest branches in England, although NatWest is just a different brand of the same bank.

If it turns out that you can successfully operate a "branch-based" current account through a branch 300 miles away, this only makes a nonsense of the whole idea that accounts are branch-based and customers belong to branches.

Meanwhile, Lloyds TSB (Scotland) plc shares a brand with the English version, but is a separate company with its own banking licence. And it's being sold lock stock and barrel. So it's not clear that Lloyds TSB Scottish customers will get any option to stay with the Lloyds brand, but in any case, they'd presumably be better off with their local BoS branch.

Just watch how the banks run rings round the regulators, frustrating intentions and producing unintended consequences.

Perhaps its time somebody announced a review of banking regulation, which seems to be in as big a mess as the banks.

I know, we've already had one, but that didn't work, so let's have another one.

jonesMUFCforever

As far as I understand the new CO-OP will retain the old sort codes and account numbers - which will make it interesting to say the least!

EarthBoy

realaledrinker wrote: »

The 632 branches the Co-op are buying (expected to be confirmed, finally, in the next week or so) are all Cheltenham & Gloucester branches, all Lloyds branches in Scotland, ex-TSB branches in England and the internet bank, Intelligent Finance..

It's not just the ex-TSB branches. It's a selection of English branches, some of which may have formerly been TSB, but some of which have only ever been Lloyds.

notts_phil

I think it will be good to have many more co-op branches around