Building Society Demutualisation Carpet Bagging

MDMD

happybagger said:

There was a point where there were 67 building societies left in the UK. At that point I was a member of 66 of them...
I agree now there is no chance of demutualisation and mergers (takeovers) are pushed through without a member vote - the recent one being Newcastle BS taking over Manchester BS.

I have closed a number of society accounts but maintain some with low balances, where the society has been known to offer 'loyalty' accounts or occasional table-topping accounts. Some also to save ID requirements in the future.

Bath, Bucks and Earl Shilton are on my 'possibly for the chop' list in the new year.

Which one was the society which you weren’t a member of…..?

flaneurs_lobster

MDMD said:

happybagger said:

There was a point where there were 67 building societies left in the UK. At that point I was a member of 66 of them...
I agree now there is no chance of demutualisation and mergers (takeovers) are pushed through without a member vote - the recent one being Newcastle BS taking over Manchester BS.

I have closed a number of society accounts but maintain some with low balances, where the society has been known to offer 'loyalty' accounts or occasional table-topping accounts. Some also to save ID requirements in the future.

Bath, Bucks and Earl Shilton are on my 'possibly for the chop' list in the new year.

Which one was the society which you weren’t a member of…..?

....and didn't/don't some of them have residential limitations on membership? Still, would have been an impressive collection of passbooks.

WillPS

Cumberland is the only one I know of which has no accounts at all available outside its 'operating area', though many more have only accounts with uncompetitive low rates and high minimum balances available to outsiders or require a branch visit.

No doubt it was a little tougher when prizes were on offer for entryists.

happybagger

Almost all were eventually baggable by branch visit / opening with a high balance then reducing / waiting until they brought in a windfall clause / eventually getting taken over by one already in the bag.

And yes, as guessed, Cumberland were the only ones missing. I tried branch visits throughout Cumbria and Lancashire one week while on a break in The Lakes, even with a decent balance they weren't having it.

The writing was on the wall for windfalls when the first society was swallowed by a management decision that didn't go to the vote. Once that happened it was clear they had found a way to do it without member input. I forget which "merger" that was but after then I kept them all until 2022 when I started pulling back. Kept many for the reasons mentioned above.

I regretted ditching Leek as they brought out a decent RS soon after - I was out of area and couldn't get it despite a branch visit pointing out my decades of loyal baggership 

And yes, I did it because I actually enjoyed it. Loved the trip to Shepshed BS and Melton Mowbray BS.

Cobbler_tone

I'd keep your £100 in Nationwide.

I was a customer for 50 years, including a mortgage. I stopped using their current account and had a couple of quid in there and just had the mortgage with them. They didn't pay me the £100 bonus a couple of years back because I didn't have enough in the current account.
It was enough of a 'FU' to pay my small mortgage off and transfer the account, although I have recently opened one again to get the regular saver.