Co-op Takeover of some branches.

nilrem_2

notts_phil wrote: »

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

I would not be too sure that they will have many more branches TBH.

They closed many branches some years back long before the financial crisis started. My guess is that they have bought the branches to get the customers rather than the offices/branches which they will gradually close down.

I opened an account with the Co-op some years ago because they had a branch in our local town (pop 90,000) and I liked their ethics, only to find they closed it down meaning I had to travel to another town to use them.

Why would they want lot's more branches at this time when they got rid of branches in the 'good times'?

They want the customers not the branches!

SingleSue

Hmm, my mum will not be pleased. She has banked with Lloyds all her adult life and has no wish to bank with anyone else....and our one and only Lloyds branch is part of the sell off (it has always been Lloyds, our old TSB has been empty for years after they moved into the big Lloyds building).

Our nearest Lloyds after the sell off is too far away and she is one of the old style generation where she has no debit card...hell, she doesn't even have a cash point card (she has refused both when they have been offered as she prefers to do her banking in person and deal only in cash, infuriating but there you go).

Goodness knows what she is going to do, she doesn't handle change too well and she is comfortable with the Lloyds banking identity, it's the only bank she has ever known in her entire adult life...and yes, she is the sort of person who will stay with the same utility companies for ever and ever too.

callum9999

realaledrinker wrote: »

I was under the impression that the deal involved branches with a sort code beginning 77-XX-XX (old TSB sort codes) rather than 30-XX-XX.

Anything else would be a nightmare to separate out.

Why would it be a nightmare? Yes, it would look a bit messy in a list on paper, but computer systems surely don't care about that?

Southend1

goalhanger wrote: »

What will happen do you think if there is a Co-op and a C&G branch next to each other ? I suspect the C&G branch will close , but this is not mentioned in the press releases. My son works in such a C&G branch and has no idea what will happen.
Thanks

Is this Southend by any chance? I hope they do keep on all the C&G staff there- they are all very friendly and helpful, especially the branch manager and the young man who sold me my mortgage.

EarthBoy

realaledrinker wrote: »

I was under the impression that the deal involved branches with a sort code beginning 77-XX-XX (old TSB sort codes) rather than 30-XX-XX.

Anything else would be a nightmare to separate out.

There are plenty of LloydsTSB branches operating on both 30-XX-XX and 77-XX-XX sort codes. Where branches have been closed and merged with another branch nearby it seems that customers have kept their original sort codes even where it was from the "other" range.

If you check the list of branches on the LloydsTSB website it shows the sort codes associated with each branch. The Camden Town branch has four of them: 30-64-43, 30-91-57, 77-91-17, 77-91-32

http://www.lloydstsb.com/branch_locator/details.asp

goalhanger

Southend1 - that would have been my son who sold you the mortgage . Glad he left a good impression .:j

jennifernil

I fail to see how this increases choice for us in Scotland. We lose Lloyds, surely that is less choice?

We already have the Co-op, if I had wanted to bank with the Co-op, I would have opened an account with them!

Although we have Bank of Scotland branches, and could move our Vantage accounts to them, they are currently using the same licence as Halifax, who we also have accounts with, so the £85k protection has to cover all these accounts, whereas Lloyds was separate.

I also have savings accounts for my grandchildren with both Lloyds and Halifax. These can only be operated in a branch at present, so unless that changes, I cannot just move the Lloyds ones to an English Lloyds branch.

BOS do not offer equivalent accounts, they don't have a Kids Regular Saver, and their Young Saver pays 2% compared to 3% at Lloyds and Halifax.

That only leaves me with the Northern Rock Little Rock accounts that pay 3%, and there are very few NR branches in our area. I am hoping, now it is Virgin, that this might change.

As far as I can see the Co-op do not offer good savings rates, so I reckon we will be closing our accounts.

Stuart_W

jennifernil wrote: »

As far as I can see the Co-op do not offer good savings rates, so I reckon we will be closing our accounts.

It is far too soon to be thinking in these terms. I would expect every product to be transferred over on existing or similar terms, with existing or similar rates, otherwise certainly in the case of savings a mass exodus will follow. Even now completely separate Britannia and Co-op mortgage products still exist. Integration will be very gradual.

Southend1

goalhanger wrote: »

Southend1 - that would have been my son who sold you the mortgage . Glad he left a good impression .:j

Haha it's a small world isn't it?! Lol

Yes he was fantastic, I bet you are really proud of him! I do hope his job is safe.

It will be interesting to see what Co Op decide to do in Southend especially as they also have a Brittania branch on the high street. I wonder if they will merge all three into a bigger location? It would be good if Co Op had a flagship branch to rival the new Barclays on Southend High St!

On another note I wonder if Co Op's variable mortgage rate is higher than C&G's and if so, what will happen to my C&G rate when the fixed rate period ends?

pqrdef

Wouldn't it be fun if the new much bigger Co-op bank got out of its depth and had to be taken over by Lloyds?