Metro Bank - In difficulty?

eskbanker

born_again said:

Miser1964 said:

Run, don't walk, to get your money out!

Which is how the las crash happened. With comments like that.
If people had done nothing, they would still have had their money & we would just have carried on as before without billions of pounds having to be spent to bail them out. 

That's quite a stretch - there was obviously a run on Northern Rock, to which irresponsible scaremongering will have contributed, but its problems related to unwise lending, and the wider global crisis encompassed both that risky activity (especially in the USA) and many other factors, so runs on banks were symptoms not causes as such....

gsmh

soolin said:

However a lot of their staff worry me , their knowledge of banking rules is fleeting to say the least.

Yes, I used to bank with them, but on occasions when I needed to call them it was clear they didn't really understand banking norms and I found myself explaining things to them. Rather worrying.

wmb194

Seems EY is working for the Bank of England's PRA. The Guardian reports NatWest and the other big boys have been sounded out as a purchasers so I guess it's willing to waive any competition concerns.

"NatWest was also asked to look at buying the total business, and may yet consider a sale of Metro’s mortgage book, as previously reported. HSBC, Lloyds and Santander UK were also reported to be among the banks approached as potential Metro buyers.

Metro is still operating within the regulator’s capital limits but is doing so within a “buffer”, meaning it will need to raise more cash from investors to grow the business in any meaningful way."

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/08/bank-of-england-sounds-out-buyers-for-metro-bank-including-natwest

dcs34

Metro always struck me as a slightly confused offering, on paper everything about them would look to be catering for the non-digital (older) traditional banking demographic who want branches and real people, and are content to forgo the top rates or modern innovations to have that.

Yet in all their marketing they seemed to be aiming at city-centre young professionals and new families, most of whom will have gone straight from whatever children's bank account was opened for them to a modern digital or app-based challenger bank to suit a more flexible, on-the-go lifestyle.

subjecttocontract

We've had a large Metro bank in our main shopping area for years.....at a guess I'd say maybe 10 years. I've passed it hundreds, maybe thousands of times, but never :
* been inside.
* received a cheque or bank payment from a Metro account.
* saved or invested in any Metro interest paying account.
* don't know a single person with a Metro bank account.
* seen a Metro credit or debit card.
* heard a good word said about Metro bank.
So, that about sums it up for me......they don't even register on the radar.
They are apparently good for one thing at least, so I'm told......
If you want to take advantage of switch offers (e.g.  First Direct, Nationwide etc) then opening a Metro account to use as the switch account can be useful.

boingy

I'd never heard of them until I started the account switch thing at the start of this year. I was a bit surprised to hear they had branches. 

Lions_89

dcs34 said:

Metro always struck me as a slightly confused offering, on paper everything about them would look to be catering for the non-digital (older) traditional banking demographic who want branches and real people, and are content to forgo the top rates or modern innovations to have that.

Yet in all their marketing they seemed to be aiming at city-centre young professionals and new families, most of whom will have gone straight from whatever children's bank account was opened for them to a modern digital or app-based challenger bank to suit a more flexible, on-the-go lifestyle.

They only had branches in London to start with. I opened an account at their first. Dogs were allowed and coin counting machines! The founder said he wanted a simple bank. Oh dear where did they go wrong.

Rob5342

subjecttocontract said:

We've had a large Metro bank in our main shopping area for years.....at a guess I'd say maybe 10 years. I've passed it hundreds, maybe thousands of times, but never :
* been inside.
* received a cheque or bank payment from a Metro account.
* saved or invested in any Metro interest paying account.
* don't know a single person with a Metro bank account.
* seen a Metro credit or debit card.
* heard a good word said about Metro bank.
So, that about sums it up for me......they don't even register on the radar.
They are apparently good for one thing at least, so I'm told......
If you want to take advantage of switch offers (e.g.  First Direct, Nationwide etc) then opening a Metro account to use as the switch account can be useful.

They've had a branch in my town for the last ten years or so. I did have a quick look at their website when I saw they had a branch but they didn't offer anything to make me choose them over anything else (I went for Halifax at the time as they gave a £5 monthly reward. These days I use modern app only banks and wouldn't even look at Metro Bank.

[Deleted User]

WillPS said:

IanManc said:

WillPS said:

GeoffTF said:

They meet their solvency requirements, but their long term future is unclear. Metro is opening branches when the big banks are closing theirs, or reducing the level of service that they offer. Branches cost money. Ultimately, the customer has to pay more if he wants them. Are there enough customers wiling to pay?

Metro are also closing branches: https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/ways-to-bank/store-closures/

It's a bit of a stretch to say they "are closing" branches - they closed a total of three, more than fifteen months ago.

Earl's Court was one of their earliest, and they explain that it has low footfall and is poorly located, with newer branches since opened which are 0.4 miles, 1 mile, and 1.4 miles away. 

Milton Keynes Midsummer was closed because there was another, larger branch 1.9 miles away, and Metro said they didn't need two branches in Milton Keynes.

Windsor was closed because newer branches were opened that serve the same area, including one in Slough which is only 2.3 miles away.

Three closures over a year ago for valid reasons, where expansion of the branch network has left the closing ones quiet, and with alternative branches very close by doesn't put Metro in the same league as other banks in terms of closures.

3 sounds low but worth considering their estate is only in double digits and their branch network is very young; it's not insignificant.

Not really when you look at somewhere like Virgin Money, TSB or Co-operative Bank. 
Branch banking is a core part of their offering but that doesn't mean retaining non-productive ones.

Section62

Metro Bank strikes deal to shore up balance sheet

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67048740