ANOTHER week, another wave of consolidation in the banking sector – this time the high street lender NatWest Group in a strategic £2.5 billion deal for Sainsbury’s Bank that secures it an extra one million customer accounts.
That NatWest has swooped for Sainsbury’s Bank does not come as a huge surprise. Group chief executive Paul Thwaite, who took over from Dame Alison Rose following her resignation last year after the Nigel Farage debacle, said at the time of his appointment in February that a key area of his strategic focus would be to “drive disciplined growth within our customer businesses”.
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Sainsbury’s, meanwhile, made clear in January that its future focus would be on its core grocery and retail operations, instigating a phased withdrawal from its core banking business after 27 years. In 2014, Sainsbury’s took full ownership of the business from Bank of Scotland – part of Lloyds – for £248 million.
Its chief executive Simon Roberts made no secret of his strategy to focus on the supermarket’s core grocery and retail operations, with banking seen as a distraction. He said: “We will focus all our time and resources going forward on growing our core retail business, delivering great quality and value, week in week out.”
NatWest’s move follows Barclays, which in February agreed a deal to purchase most of Tesco’s banking in a deal worth up to £1bn. Meanwhile, Coventry Building Society has agreed its takeover of the Co-operative Bank for £780m, leaving only Marks & Spencer as the only UK supermarket with a challenger bank.
Banking, of course, is not the only route that supermarkets have taken over the years to play on their customers’ loyalty with mobile phones and garden centres just some of the ventures deemed to add value to their core food and drink retail offer.
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However, evolving business models in banking and challengers moving with an online-only solution popular with younger people who are at ease using apps may have contributed, in part, to supermarkets reappraising their offer and deciding to go back to basics and stick to what they know best.
As AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould put it: “The big supermarket slimdown continues with pace as Sainsbury’s follows Tesco in selling its core banking operations. The deal makes sense as it leaves Sainsbury’s with a sharper focus on food and general merchandise.
“It’s no surprise the market has given the thumbs-up to Sainsbury’s disposal. The supermarket has been on a roll over the past few years with its strategy of focusing primarily on food and removing any distractions elsewhere in the business could help to oil the wheels.”
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The good news for customers of Sainsbury’s Bank is that there will be no immediate change. And for NatWest, led by veteran banker Mr Thwaite, the deal is a “great opportunity to accelerate the growth of our retail banking business at attractive returns, in line with our strategic priorities”.
These are certainly interesting times for financial services in the UK.
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