Cpcmcredit Blog

Few people would claim that there is too much competition in retail banking so the seemingly gradual exit of Metro Bank from the market is surely not good news for anyone outer than their direct competitors.

A cut of 22% of the workforce by April is, to put it mildly, brutal.

I have a number of contacts at the bank because they are involved in asset and invoice finance and I certainly hope that they are not affected by these cuts but there has to be uncertainty about their future in the business banking market. Their lending has been conservative but very competitive on price but in my (limited) experience, their day to day banking service has been pretty mixed.

Personal banking is their main speciality of course and it still has to be questioned whether they have simply overestimated the appetite for face to face service. Also they are facing strong competition in that area from Nationwide with their sharp and clever advertising campaign and a deserved reputation for service which is sky high.

We have also all but lost Coop banking from the business banking market and the launches of old brands such as William and Glyns have simply disappeared. There is competition within the online business banking sector but i’ve often found that the options are bedevilled with restrictions

I personally hope that Metro can turn things around but let’s see