The Barclays and other non-Lloyds/TSB Bank thread

[NiKepp]

EasyInternetCafe - Now there's a blast from the past I'd managed to forget all about! Sudden flashbacks to those dark days when I still had to go outside to get online and mingle in a room with some of the strangest people imaginable, as having it in the home seemed like a luxury reserved for only the richest kings of Europe.

The closest I can get to that sort of social experience now is when I slum it on the Megabus!

[Robinhood]

Looks like Virgin Money is going to be disappearing over the next few years.

Nationwide strikes deal to buy Virgin Money for £2.9bn

[WillPS]

Looks like Virgin Money is going to be disappearing over the next few years.

Nationwide strikes deal to buy Virgin Money for £2.9bn

Wow, that's come from the blue. It seems along with Coventry's attempts to acquire the Co-op Bank that there's a real reversal from the position 20-30 years ago where freshly demutualised building societies were prey for banks... the hunted are becoming the hunter.

I wonder if Yorkshire Building Society will have a pop for TSB now? They're very much the outlier if these transactions complete.

[JAS84]

Looks like Virgin Money is going to be disappearing over the next few years.

Nationwide strikes deal to buy Virgin Money for £2.9bn

My debit card is due for renewal in 2026, after the previous Yorkshire Bank one was replaced early due to the rebrand. I wonder if this one will also end up being replaced early, with the new card being a Nationwide one?

[WillPS]

Looks like Virgin Money is going to be disappearing over the next few years.

Nationwide strikes deal to buy Virgin Money for £2.9bn

My debit card is due for renewal in 2026, after the previous Yorkshire Bank one was replaced early due to the rebrand. I wonder if this one will also end up being replaced early, with the new card being a Nationwide one?

Probably not. Even if the transaction goes through quickly, they've confirmed that the two entities will continue separately and have agreed a 4 year period (starting from when the transaction completes) to continue using the Virgin Money brand for that purpose. Whatever happens it's likely that Clydesdale Bank plc will remain a subsidiary, if for no other reason than to prevent any complications regarding their Scottish note printing obligations.

I suspect they will seek to move their newly acquired savings, current accounts and mortgages over to the parent/building society's banking license but integration of banking systems is a complicated business, and there are legal hurdles which need to be jumped over and FSCS implications communicated - particularly for the customers who'd end up breaching it. It might make sense for things like credit cards, business banking, investment etc to continue to sit with Clydesdale Bank plc. But regardless it won't be a quick process, 4 years sounds optimistic to me.

Expiration is just an arbitrary date printed on your card which the issuer confirms it will be no use beyond, it doesn't infer an obligation or even an intention on the part of the bank to continue honouring it until that date. There are a myriad of circumstances which might lead to the bank terminating it earlier.

[thegeek]

I wonder how much of this is Nationwide trying to get a better online banking platform? Their current IT is well in need of an overhaul, whereas much of Virgin Money is quite modern - I have a feeling it's based on Clydesdale's short-lived B brand. That said, I recently opened an ISA with them and it's managed through a separate site, and has a sort code with a Gosforth address - I'm assuming the last vestiges of Northern Rock.

[WillPS]

I wonder how much of this is Nationwide trying to get a better online banking platform? Their current IT is well in need of an overhaul, whereas much of Virgin Money is quite modern - I have a feeling it's based on Clydesdale's short-lived B brand. That said, I recently opened an ISA with them and it's managed through a separate site, and has a sort code with a Gosforth address - I'm assuming the last vestiges of Northern Rock.

I had a similar thought at first but Virgin Money is a real hodgepodge of systems. Savings are split between the legacy Northern Rock and CYBG platforms. Current accounts are all on the platform CYBG built for 'B' with the exception of the 'Essentials' current account which Virgin Money had a very underdeveloped platform of their own for. Credit cards are on something else - presumably the pre-LBG MBNA platform - and so have an app and login all of their own.

Nationwide on the other hand have unified everything (from the customer's perspective at least) but appear to struggle to get pretty basic functionality available - the app looks OK but you can't see payment references at all or deposit cheques. Until very recently you had to use a bloody awful card reader to make a payment to a new payee. Their 'internet bank' is a real throwback too - it reminds me of internet banking in the very early days of the internet; it wouldn't be so much of a problem if it wasn't also the only place you could do certain functions (close/change savings accounts, switch to Nationwide etc). Perhaps the most egregious omission is the lack of support for Post Office banking - you can only withdraw cash and get balance (i.e. stuff they do through LINK).

Hopefully there is some good talent they're going to buy in with the acquisition to improve the customer experience across the board.

[thegeek]

ah - I've only had exposure to VM's current account and ISA platform and didn't realise they had more!

Nationwide is, as you say, unified - it's just very retro. It could probably survive a reskin, but a ground-up rebuild would be the more sensible option.

[Charlie Wells]

Nationwide on the other hand have unified everything (from the customer's perspective at least) but appear to struggle to get pretty basic functionality available - the app looks OK but you can't see payment references at all or deposit cheques. Until very recently you had to use a bloody awful card reader to make a payment to a new payee. Their 'internet bank' is a real throwback too - it reminds me of internet banking in the very early days of the internet; it wouldn't be so much of a problem if it wasn't also the only place you could do certain functions (close/change savings accounts, switch to Nationwide etc). Perhaps the most egregious omission is the lack of support for Post Office banking - you can only withdraw cash and get balance (i.e. stuff they do through LINK).

The inability to deposit cheques is a pain, as whilst Nationwide are one of the few not to be closing branches on mass that hasn't stopped them reducing opening hours. My nearest one used to be open on Saturday mornings which was very handy, but it seems they stopped it during Covid and haven't reintroduced it.

Not being able to pay in at the Post Office is also a pain. I'm guessing that this is due to them being a Building Society rather than a bank, despite the impression they try to give in their recent advertising and dropping "Building Society" from the logo.

[thegeek]

They've not made a fuss about it (as they don't seem to be rolling it out to everyone at once), but Monzo now support cheque imaging.

[Pete]

They've not made a fuss about it (as they don't seem to be rolling it out to everyone at once), but Monzo now support cheque imaging.

oh that took a bit of finding but excellent. no longer have to use another bank and transfer over.