Sainsbury's winding down their banking business

UncleK

mebu60 said:

I thought the link went several years ago! It wasn't worth a lot as I recall. I've still got the card and use it for small one-off online purchases with companies I'm not sure about. I've not had any Nectar points credited from card use for quite some time. 

I use my credit card quite a bit, especially at Sainsburys itself, so got 487 nectar points last time round. Obviously depends how much one uses one's credit card!

stclair

Sainsbury’s Bank haven’t done any further announcements on this since June 2024. Has anyone received any further updates from them. I received a lettter recently but it was just a promotional offer. 

sausage_time

I had one of the old "Gold" cards which was pitched as a travel card.  It came with travel insurance for £5/month (which is long gone), but still had 0% FX fee and (unusually) no interest on ATM cash advances.  It was a great travel companion.  Anyway, as of December they have removed the 0% FX fee (now 2.75%?) and interest free cash advance.  The card is of no immediate use to me now, but I have not closed it yet.

UncleK

I've found the card great as used with Nectar card I get quite some money back at Sainsburys stores. The FX is a rip-off so I use my Halifax card for foreign purchases but otherwise it's my main card.

WillPS

UncleK said:

I've found the card great as used with Nectar card I get quite some money back at Sainsburys stores. The FX is a rip-off so I use my Halifax card for foreign purchases but otherwise it's my main card.

The earn rate is extremely poor, even in Sainsburys (1 pt per £2, or 0.25% equivalent).

You'd likely be better off using one of the following:

• Nectar Amex (2pts per £/1% equivalent, £30 annual fee)
• Natwest/RBS Reward (1% cashback at supermarkets, annual fee waived if you hold a matching current account)
• Chase debit card (1% cashback, max £15/month)
• Barclaycard Avios (1 Avios* per £/0.5% equivalent, no annual fee)

* Avios are directly transferable to Nectar at a rate of 1=1. Can be setup to be done automatically.

With all the above you still get the standard Nectar card points and rewards (1 pt per £).

poseidon1

stclair said:

Sainsbury’s Bank haven’t done any further announcements on this since June 2024. Has anyone received any further updates from them. I received a lettter recently but it was just a promotional offer. 

I have their credit card and had expected something formal from Sainsbury about the Nat West takeover by now, bearing in mind it was slated to be completed by March 2025.

By contrast, I also have a Tesco Bank credit card and  Tesco emailed me in November to confirm the transfer of the business to Barclays Bank took affect in October. However no change ( so far ) to T & Cs and Tesco Banking app unchanged after the transition.

WillPS

poseidon1 said:

stclair said:

Sainsbury’s Bank haven’t done any further announcements on this since June 2024. Has anyone received any further updates from them. I received a lettter recently but it was just a promotional offer. 

I have their credit card and had expected something formal from Sainsbury about the Nat West takeover by now, bearing in mind it was slated to be completed by March 2025.

By contrast, I also have a Tesco Bank credit card and  Tesco emailed me in November to confirm the transfer of the business to Barclays Bank took affect in October. However no change ( so far ) to T & Cs and Tesco Banking app unchanged after the transition.

Tesco Bank's sale to Barclays was subject to S111/112 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 because of the amount of customer deposits transferring. 

figgyc

Sainsbury's seem to have published some new info on the acquisition (I think it's new - the "Legal Notice" is dated the 24th January, and I spotted a banner in my app today)

https://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/transfer-scheme?cid=homepage_transfer_notice

Expected completion date is now 1st May 2025 following a court hearing on the 15th April.

Very much unlike Barclays buying Tesco Bank, their transition plan is more ambitious - they reckon they can get all the accounts onto NatWest's IT "by the end of 2025". As such most of the details in the documents are about potential minor changes in interest calculations and the like.

Notably Nectar point earning will remain on the credit cards so I guess they are going to bother implementing that on the NatWest system.

Olebiscuitbarrel1

I've had a good Sainsbury pet insurance quote, should I buy or will I find myself out in the cold half way through the policy? 

eskbanker

Olebiscuitbarrel1 said:

I've had a good Sainsbury pet insurance quote, should I buy or will I find myself out in the cold half way through the policy? 

From the article linked in the previous post:

Our insurance and travel money services will continue to be available as they are today and are not included in the proposed transfer.