Nationwide take over of Virgin Money

[Deleted User]

boingy said:

The buy out will make Nationwide "the UK's second largest mortgage and savings group". Nothing to do with benefitting members or customers. It's just a quick way to grow.

As a Building Society, it's main raison d'être is to benefit it's members (owners) and simply becoming the UK's second largest mortgage and savings group doesn't necessarily do that...

Hoenir

[Deleted User] said:

boingy said:

The buy out will make Nationwide "the UK's second largest mortgage and savings group". Nothing to do with benefitting members or customers. It's just a quick way to grow.

As a Building Society, it's main raison d'être is to benefit it's members (owners) and simply becoming the UK's second largest mortgage and savings group doesn't necessarily do that...

Remaining a UK mutually owned lender. Is far better than being taken over by a US "maximum profit / send the profits abroad to shareholders" bank.  

WillPS

Hoenir said:

[Deleted User] said:

boingy said:

The buy out will make Nationwide "the UK's second largest mortgage and savings group". Nothing to do with benefitting members or customers. It's just a quick way to grow.

As a Building Society, it's main raison d'être is to benefit it's members (owners) and simply becoming the UK's second largest mortgage and savings group doesn't necessarily do that...

Remaining a UK mutually owned lender. Is far better than being taken over by a US "maximum profit / send the profits abroad to shareholders" bank.  

Such a bank cannot simply march in and take over a building society. The society would first have to demutualise itself, with the support of members, become a bank and then accept a takeover.

[Deleted User]

Hoenir said:

[Deleted User] said:

boingy said:

The buy out will make Nationwide "the UK's second largest mortgage and savings group". Nothing to do with benefitting members or customers. It's just a quick way to grow.

As a Building Society, it's main raison d'être is to benefit it's members (owners) and simply becoming the UK's second largest mortgage and savings group doesn't necessarily do that...

Remaining a UK mutually owned lender. Is far better than being taken over by a US "maximum profit / send the profits abroad to shareholders" bank.  

Mutually owned is just an ownership model - it doesn't mean that an organisation is run better or worse than a standard PLC. Nationwide is worse as all it's products are now mediocre (definitely not any better than it's PLC brethren) yet unlike them it's not produced a dividend to it's owners unless you count the haphazard £100 payments last year.

RG2015

[Deleted User] said:

Hoenir said:

[Deleted User] said:

boingy said:

The buy out will make Nationwide "the UK's second largest mortgage and savings group". Nothing to do with benefitting members or customers. It's just a quick way to grow.

As a Building Society, it's main raison d'être is to benefit it's members (owners) and simply becoming the UK's second largest mortgage and savings group doesn't necessarily do that...

Remaining a UK mutually owned lender. Is far better than being taken over by a US "maximum profit / send the profits abroad to shareholders" bank.  

Mutually owned is just an ownership model - it doesn't mean that an organisation is run better or worse than a standard PLC. I would contend that Nationwide is worse as all it's products are now mediocre (definitely not any better than it's PLC brethren) yet unlike them it's not produced a dividend to it's owners unless you count the haphazard £100 payments last year.

Most banks go though a spell with better products and then return to mediocrity. Nationwide is no different. I currently have an 8% regular saver (now 6.5%). HSBC, TSB, Barclays and Halifax currently have nothing much  to write home about.

The Nationwide supermarket cashback a year ago was pretty decent, and many started out with the Flexdirect current account with 5% interest on up to £1,000.

Gandalf644

I do give up!

Chatting to my neighbour (who is a Nationwide customer) in the pub last night, he was most enthusuastic about the 'Virgin merger' as he called it.

Turns out he is, to quote, a 'Richard Branston' fan and goes on holiday once a year on Vrigin Atlantic airlines so was hoping he would get some form of discount on his flights by virtue of the Nationside deal. Also on his Virgin Mobile phone!

I suppose he is expecting a discount on Virgin Cola (if that still exists) as well!

 

jameseonline

Gandalf644 said:

I do give up!

Chatting to my neighbour (who is a Nationwide customer) in the pub last night, he was most enthusuastic about the 'Virgin merger' as he called it.

Turns out he is, to quote, a 'Richard Branston' fan and goes on holiday once a year on Vrigin Atlantic airlines so was hoping he would get some form of discount on his flights by virtue of the Nationside deal. Also on his Virgin Mobile phone!

I suppose he is expecting a discount on Virgin Cola (if that still exists) as well!

 

If he is such a Richard Branston/Virgin fan surely he has a Virgin Money account therefore the cashback scheme, a Virgin Red account too?, because those get you loyalty points/cashback etc on Virgin things.

I don't think Virgin Cola has been a thing in the UK for a while now🤣

Is Virgin Mobile still a thing or is that O2 now?🤔

steven141

jameseonline said:

Gandalf644 said:

I do give up!

Chatting to my neighbour (who is a Nationwide customer) in the pub last night, he was most enthusuastic about the 'Virgin merger' as he called it.

Turns out he is, to quote, a 'Richard Branston' fan and goes on holiday once a year on Vrigin Atlantic airlines so was hoping he would get some form of discount on his flights by virtue of the Nationside deal. Also on his Virgin Mobile phone!

I suppose he is expecting a discount on Virgin Cola (if that still exists) as well!

 

If he is such a Richard Branston/Virgin fan surely he has a Virgin Money account therefore the cashback scheme, a Virgin Red account too?, because those get you loyalty points/cashback etc on Virgin things.

I don't think Virgin Cola has been a thing in the UK for a while now🤣

Is Virgin Mobile still a thing or is that O2 now?🤔

Virgin Cola is no longer in the UK and Virgin Mobile is now O2 in the UK. 

jameseonline

Virgin is a great success in the UK then😁

jameseonline

Not Nationwide having IT problems:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68635180.amp