Metro Bank - In difficulty?

Rob5342

I'd have thought a good proportion of all commercial premises are rented. Either way it's a significant cost for something nobody uses when other new banks are app only. It's like opening VHS rental shops in the days of streaming, there might be a small niche bit it's dwindling and it's not sustainable.

Outeast1000

GeoffTF said:

Outeast1000 said:

If Metro Bank does go under would it be a matter of days . weeks . or months . I have a Bank account with Metro Bank and I am worried 

Years probably. Provided you have under £85K with them, you should not need to worry anyway.

Are you sure it would be years ?

GeoffTF

Outeast1000 said:

GeoffTF said:

Outeast1000 said:

If Metro Bank does go under would it be a matter of days . weeks . or months . I have a Bank account with Metro Bank and I am worried 

Years probably. Provided you have under £85K with them, you should not need to worry anyway.

Are you sure it would be years ?

We cannot be certain. There could be a run on any bank. Nonetheless, Metro meets the BoE's stringent solvency requirements, is expanding and making a profit. It will face an issue when the next tranche of bonds matures (in 2025, if I remember correctly), and could certainly do with more capital. It will almost certainly raise that capital. The question is really whether the business model is sustainable in the long term. I expect that most people choose their bank for its perceived image rather than on price, and Metro certainly has a distinct image with its bright and shiny high street branches. There are people who buy flashy cars. Others buy old bangers because they are cheaper.

wmb194

GeoffTF said:

wmb194 said:

GeoffTF said:

wmb194 said:

GeoffTF said:

subjecttocontract said:

Well if they will de-bank organisations like they did recently then what goes around comes around. Don't look for sympathy in my neck of the woods. Feeling sorry for banks is something that just doesn't ring right with me.

It is not about feeling sorry for Metro Bank. It is about do you want fully staffed branches opening seven days a week?

From Metro? No.

Yes:

https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/help-and-support/store-related-questions/what-are-your-store-opening-hours/

My local branch (which has not been open long) seems to have more staff than customers when I have passed by.

Hah hah. No, I'm saying I don't want it. Barely anyone does, and certainly not from Metro. It's one of the reasons why it's been struggling for so long. It's been rubbish and largely uncompetitive from day one. Add to that it apparently doesn't know how to be a good bank cf its accounting issues in 2019.

Their customers disagree:

https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/personal-banking-service-quality-great-britain-august-2023

Metro is top of the table for branch service, and near the top overall. The competition on the high street is pretty feeble and increasingly so. Whether there are enough people who are willing to pay for branch service is another matter.

That will explain why it's so incredibly successful then. Oh, wait. You know you're in trouble when your market cap is c.£73m and you need to raise c.£250m in equity and £350m in debt.

I've been a Metro Bank customer and wasn't impressed with any of what it did or how it operated but that's me.

wmb194

Outeast1000 said:

If Metro Bank does go under would it be a matter of days . weeks . or months . I have a Bank account with Metro Bank and I am worried 

When banks 'go' they often go suddenly, see the failures in the US, Credit Suisse and of SVB UK earlier this year. HSBC bought SVB UK for a pound and effectively rescued it overnight and so it continued to operate. If Metro cannot raise the money it needs something similar could happen but who knows.

If you don't have any other current accounts then you should definitely open one. I'd recommend Lloyds but if you want one opened very quickly then an app bank like Chase or Starling. Avoid HSBC because its opening processes are very slow.

It goes without saying but also ensure that you're within the FSCS compensation limits.

GeoffTF

IanManc said:

For any counter transactions I started to use my Child & Co account at the NatWest which is 100 metres away at the end of the same street, where the staff have proved to be unfailingly welcoming, polite, friendly and efficient.

Child & Co are no more:

https://www.natwestgroup.com/heritage/companies/child-and-co.html

I have a Skipton BS account and can use that for counter transactions, if necessary.

boingy

wmb194 said:

Outeast1000 said:

If Metro Bank does go under would it be a matter of days . weeks . or months . I have a Bank account with Metro Bank and I am worried 

When banks 'go' they often go suddenly, 

Yep, the fallout can last years but as soon as customers start to panic the bank has to act quickly by limiting withdrawals and services. What I don't know is how quickly FSCS protection kicks in. Once the FSCS is triggered the process of getting your money back is pretty quick but the bank has to be deemed to have "failed" for that to trigger. So there could be a delay whilst rescue efforts are made.

If anyone is using Metro as their only bank I'd suggest setting up an alternative sooner rather than later.

wmb194

boingy said:

wmb194 said:

Outeast1000 said:

If Metro Bank does go under would it be a matter of days . weeks . or months . I have a Bank account with Metro Bank and I am worried 

When banks 'go' they often go suddenly, 

Yep, the fallout can last years but as soon as customers start to panic the bank has to act quickly by limiting withdrawals and services. What I don't know is how quickly FSCS protection kicks in. Once the FSCS is triggered the process of getting your money back is pretty quick but the bank has to be deemed to have "failed" for that to trigger. So there could be a delay whilst rescue efforts are made.

If anyone is using Metro as their only bank I'd suggest setting up an alternative sooner rather than later.

The target for the FSCS to return funds is a week or so (seven (working?) days) but it might be helpful to have an account to send them to that's ready to go. "Failed" should be when it's closed to deposits and withdrawals and the authorities know there are no credible buyers but as you say that's open to interpretation.

"How long would it take to get my money back? In most cases, for deposits, FSCS aims to pay compensation within seven days of a bank, building society or credit union failing. We will pay any remaining deposit claims, which are likely to be more complex, within 15 working days."

https://www.fscs.org.uk/globalassets/badge-assets/shared/fscs_thb_online_aug2020.pdf

Section62

Rob5342 said:

I'd have thought a good proportion of all commercial premises are rented. Either way it's a significant cost for something nobody uses when other new banks are app only. It's like opening VHS rental shops in the days of streaming, there might be a small niche bit it's dwindling and it's not sustainable.

The same once might have been said about vinyl, yet....
https://www.nme.com/news/music/vinyl-sales-up-nearly-15-per-cent-in-2023-3509810

With the big banks closing their branches as quickly as possible, there may be space for a bank willing to swim against the tide - it seems (for the time being) that Nationwide BS seems to think there may be a value in retaining a branch network.

There are people who want to use branch banking (and even safe deposit boxes), and it may well be that in time people get fed up with sitting on the phone for hours or trying to engage with a chatbot to sort their banking out (cf. streamers 'discovering' vinyl) and so the total number of people in that category may also start increasing one day - it doesn't have to be a terminal decline.

I suspect though that the people who are more reliant on (or at least keener on) branch-based banking will generally be found (currently) in the more rural /outer suburban areas rather than city centres, and for that reason a bank which is 'Metro' orientated may not be in a position to capitalise on what market there may still be for them.

As things stand I would place my bet on Nationwide doing rather better than Metrobank at exploiting this oportunity (if it does turn out to be one).

ColdIron

huw01 said:

They did have nice pens you could nick, always used to bag a couple when down in london

When I was in their Southampton Row branch a couple of what looked like buskers walked in with a sports bag and took every pen. Might have been a thousand of them. No one said anything

What do you do with a thousand stubby little biros?