The New Bank of Tesco
30/07/2008
Supermarket giant Tesco has announced it is to become a stand alone bank. The new 'Tesco Bank' will offer current accounts, savings accounts and mortgages as well as credit cards, insurance and loans.
Tesco is preparing to take on the High Street banks in order to pocket a slice of the £20 billion annual profit from UK bank customers.
The new bank will operate from within Tesco's existing supermarkets - over 200 Tesco Extra stores have been earmarked for the move. The bank will also be available online and over the phone in the UK and also in other countries where Tesco has stores.
Tesco is to operate its bank along the same premise as its supermarkets: simple cut-price products. The retail giant is hoping to capitalise on UK customers' dissatisfaction with the existing 'big five' High Street banks - HSBC, Lloyds-TSB, RBS/NatWest, Barclays and Halifax Bank of Scotland. The company says the Tesco brand is trustworthy and the public will be willing to switch banks on that basis.
Tesco has hired Benny Higgins, who ran the retail arm of Halifax (the UK's biggest mortgage bank), to head the banking operation.
Tesco is preparing to take on the High Street banks in order to pocket a slice of the £20 billion annual profit from UK bank customers.
The new bank will operate from within Tesco's existing supermarkets - over 200 Tesco Extra stores have been earmarked for the move. The bank will also be available online and over the phone in the UK and also in other countries where Tesco has stores.
Tesco is to operate its bank along the same premise as its supermarkets: simple cut-price products. The retail giant is hoping to capitalise on UK customers' dissatisfaction with the existing 'big five' High Street banks - HSBC, Lloyds-TSB, RBS/NatWest, Barclays and Halifax Bank of Scotland. The company says the Tesco brand is trustworthy and the public will be willing to switch banks on that basis.
Tesco has hired Benny Higgins, who ran the retail arm of Halifax (the UK's biggest mortgage bank), to head the banking operation.
