Planning ahead, Virgin &, Nationwide Customers

savit4l8er

With a couple of fixes maturing shortly, I was looking at what Virgin have to offer. I see only one fixed ISA for a year.   Since the planned takeover looks to be going ahead, I am thinking, having accounts with both Virgin and N/wide could prove to be problematic. If you are in a longer fix(es) if available and the £85k fscs limit comes into play across the two at some point even if not immediately, you may find you have to move some money. The option of a penalty free transfer out could come into play but if rates have reduced all round, you could lose out.

So I am thinking, it might be better to treat it as if they are one already and act accordingly. That means not taking any more fixes with Virgin just now if one still has one at N/wide in place (or vice versa) which will run concurrently. 

Thought it might be something for others to consider who hadn't thought about it.  🙂

bigbars

So, looking into it further it looks like we have 4 years, well 3.5 years at the latest to separate. But I’m starting to take steps now as I have accounts in both amounting to more than the limit when combined. I won’t add to these products further and look to do transfers on maturity of my fixes 

Taken from someone else’s post on another forum;

However, [Nationwide and Virgin Money] said Virgin Money would keep operating as a separate legal entity within the Nationwide group, *with a separate board of directors and banking licence.*

www.cityam.com/nationwide-inks-preliminary-2-9bn-deal-to-potentially-acquire-virgin-money/

In other words, if you have money with both, you would have full £85,000 FSCS protection under both.

They will be operating separately until 2030, when they will then combine fully as nationwide

Also mentioned here https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/nationwide-takeover-virgin-money-what-it-means-for-customers-aK9iq0B0C0LT

https://uk.virginmoney.com/nationwide-and-virginmoney/

savit4l8er

Some good input there. I have always liked Virgin as it was and am a bit disappointed.  Of the two, NW have made more mistakes with processing for me plus seem a bit old fashioned. They offer products online but then request a branch visit to deal with some aspects of them. I think I might have preferred it the other way round but they are not the worst. 

bigbars

I hear you. I’m the same. Nationwide the older statesman a bit antiquated, vm was the newer kid on the block with generally more favourable products.

But I guess with some of these establishments they realise they may benefit from this situation than try in vain to fight the bigger fish. I just wish they had proof readers to vet their info and comms. I triple checked my received comms from virgin and nationwide and none go into details about the finer intricacies. Such as the 4 years. All the updates are so vague and you pretty much have to amalgamate info from multiple sources to get accurate info. 

One annoyance I am dealing With right now is around vm maturity and transfers, one article says send a secure message, another says contact the new provider to arrange it. New provider says fill in the form, which is in fact a postal form, but you go to help and it’s an online form different to the postal form.

savit4l8er

Yes, it's very much as you say, I haven't really gone into it a lot because sometimes things change and you can spend ages researching things, it's bad enough trying to find a good rate with somewhere you don't mind using.
I am reasonably happy with my current set but these mergers and takeovers reduce options so no matter what, I losing one of my Goto's.  I almost ended up with Natwest when they had the good rate a while back but there was some delay and all the Hooyu stuff. Plus there were other issues they had at the time as well as too many mentions on here so I left it. Think I went to Shawbrooke and in retrospect, I pleased with that. 
I'll have to see what happens with my maturing Virgin ones. Hope you get through it without too much grief 🙏

bigbars

Thanks,

 just doing some last minute research as I understand a lot of the gripes with virgin or any transfers is the wording in the forms and most importantly the secure message, so just ensuring the wording explicitly details partial transfers of previous balance should suffice as I have yet to contribute to any this year. The mergers and umbrella member banks dilutes our rate options somewhat so I know going forward pointless contributing further to any of my virgin or nationwide products knowing their situation and just look to at maturity taking  progressive steps to get them below the limit. Starting with one which matures tomorrow.

savit4l8er

Have one today, turns into easy access tomorrow in a very low rate. I'm moving it out because they have nothing I want anyway. It feels like they are winding down a bit but even if they had a suitable term and rate, I doubt I would take it. NW matures in Oct so that's the way it gone. I really need to know what they are going to offer. I started a thread previously to see if anyone had any examples of rates offered now as an example, just wanted to see if they were attempting to be competitive regardless of whether the drop again. Like I said, I rather it had been the other way round.  I have a good option for some of it anyway. The funny thing with NW is I stayed with them twice, previously .75 I think and I sat it out for a couple of months when rates were rising, then took the 4.5 which is OK but better came along. However, it might just be the right time to move it for a better rate longer term. Fixed and tied up a few more months might mean any in offer will be a lot less?

bigbars

I'm taking VM's 1 Yr Fix at 4.5% tomorrow, it's not the most competitive coming from a maturing 1 Yr Fix at 5.71%. But just for convenience right now it'll do. Will leave 65K so I am compliant and gives me wiggle room for a few years and I opened a TSB 18mth Fix at 4.55% a few days ago. Which was fortunate as today it has dropped to 4.02%. Transferring the remainder of the VM fix to TSB.

Like you say, I think they are already winding down and noticed the lack of products with both providers. No 2 Yr or 3 Yr fixes for neither VM or NW. Next I'll be transferring NW's out to someone else when that one matures.

wmb194

bigbars said:

So, looking into it further it looks like we have 4 years, well 3.5 years at the latest to separate. But I’m starting to take steps now as I have accounts in both amounting to more than the limit when combined. I won’t add to these products further and look to do transfers on maturity of my fixes 

Taken from someone else’s post on another forum;

However, [Nationwide and Virgin Money] said Virgin Money would keep operating as a separate legal entity within the Nationwide group, *with a separate board of directors and banking licence.*

www.cityam.com/nationwide-inks-preliminary-2-9bn-deal-to-potentially-acquire-virgin-money/

In other words, if you have money with both, you would have full £85,000 FSCS protection under both.

They will be operating separately until 2030, when they will then combine fully as nationwide

Also mentioned here https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/nationwide-takeover-virgin-money-what-it-means-for-customers-aK9iq0B0C0LT

https://uk.virginmoney.com/nationwide-and-virginmoney/

I might have missed it but where does it say they will be combined fully? I read that the Virgin *brand* will be gone by 2030, not that they'll have completely merged. 

I'd be surprised if they did: why buy a bank with a licence that allows you to do things a BS cannot and then give it up? After all these years Lloyds still has a separate banking licence from Halifax/BoS and NatWest and RBS have separate licenses as well.

I wouldn't worry anyway. For instance, years ago when the FSCS limit was reduced (later raised again) banks and BSs allowed people to withdraw money from fixed rate, no access savings bonds that were above the limit. I'm sure Nationwide would do something similar if it merged fully with Virgin/Clydesdale.

bigbars

I may have interpreted it incorrectly, but these statements would lead me to believe that once the brand is fully absorbed, its license would also so would fall under the Nationwide license, like how egg disappeared, I may be wrong, I think the others were treated as separate entities so retained their respective licenses :

The move will eventually result in the Virgin Money brand disappearing from the high street, but this is unlikely to happen before 2030.

Long-term Virgin Money customers may be familiar with takeovers. The brand was previously bought by CYBG, the owner of Clydesdale Bank. 

If this deal goes through, however, it will eventually result in the Virgin Money brand disappearing altogether.

wmb194

bigbars said:

I may have interpreted it incorrectly, but these statements would lead me to believe that once the brand is fully absorbed, its license would also so would fall under the Nationwide license, like how egg disappeared, I may be wrong, I think the others were treated as separate entities so retained their respective licenses :

The move will eventually result in the Virgin Money brand disappearing from the high street, but this is unlikely to happen before 2030.

Long-term Virgin Money customers may be familiar with takeovers. The brand was previously bought by CYBG, the owner of Clydesdale Bank. 

If this deal goes through, however, it will eventually result in the Virgin Money brand disappearing altogether.

In the end Egg was just some savings accounts and credit cards using, IIRC, Citibank's banking licence and transferred to YBS and Barclaycard respectively and so not really comparable to Virgin Money/Clydesdale Bank. It makes sense for the Virgin brand to go - why does Nationwide need to keep paying for it? - but it doesn't have to mean that the renamed entity merges fully with NW. Anyway, we'll see and I wouldn't worry about it.