Birmingham Midshires - Barclays Sort Code?

glider3560

I appreciate that LBG have recently resurrected the Birmingham Midshires brand for savings account (along with the rather aged looking application process and online banking), but I was a bit shocked to see they still use a Barclays sort code (20-97-78).

You could understand this as a building society, but surely as part of a larger banking group, it would make sense (financially, especially) to use an account at BoS or Lloyds to do the clearing?

Maybe I'm just overthinking it.

PeacefulWaters

glider3560 wrote: »

I appreciate that LBG have recently resurrected the Birmingham Midshires brand for savings account (along with the rather aged looking application process and online banking), but I was a bit shocked to see they still use a Barclays sort code (20-97-78).

Resurrected? They've not stopped offering new products as far as I can recall.

You could understand this as a building society, but surely as part of a larger banking group, it would make sense (financially, especially) to use an account at BoS or Lloyds to do the clearing?

Maybe I'm just overthinking it.

The unknowns are:

1) How much is the Barclays thing costing?
2) How much would bringing it in house cost?
3) How much would bringing it in house save?
4) How much could the IT and implementation resource needed to deliver the change deliver in additional savings/profits elsewhere within LBG?

My guess is that it's on a list to change and because the gains are nominal given the size of BM other things will always get prioritised above it.

System

I got the distinct impression that BM is run on separate systems from Bank of Scotland (Halifax) proper or even the wider LBG.

They never got a Halifax sort code when it was just owned by Halifax nor a even BOS sort code during the HBOS era.

They seem to have simply retained the brand/systems to be top of the best buy tables without cannibalising their main brands.

PeacefulWaters

Heng_Leng wrote: »

I got the distinct impression that BM is run on separate systems from Bank of Scotland (Halifax) proper or even the wider LBG.

They never got a Halifax sort code when it was just owned by Halifax nor a even BOS sort code during the HBOS era.

They seem to have simply retained the brand/systems to be top of the best buy tables without cannibalising their main brands.

That's precisely the strategy.

When they need retail funds.