Metro Bank arrives on the UK high street
THE WORLD and his dog queued up outside Metro Bank’s first branch in Holborn yesterday morning for the opening of the UK’s first high street bank for over a century.
Metro, which freely admits it will not offer the best rates for savers, is counting on a dedicated customer service and convenience-based approach to lure consumers into its stores.
If the strategy goes to plan – as it did over the past three decades with billionaire founder Vernon Hill’s Commerce Bank venture, now one of the biggest retail banks in the US – the bank is aiming for an ambitious target of between five and 10 per cent of the UK retail banking market within the next decade.
First, it will attempt to break the London market by offering branch banking services seven days a week from early in the morning until late, as well as personalised touches like customer toilets, no-commission change machines and a much-vaunted plan to allow dogs to come with their owners into the stores.
The bank also claims to allow people to open accounts in as little as 15 minutes, printing debit and credit cards in-store which are ready to use as soon as the customer walks out of the door.
However, analysts yesterday remained sceptical on whether the bank’s touchy-feely approach to customer service would be enough to convince level-headed customers to make the move over from their current bank, particularly given Metro’s uncompetitive savings rates.
Metro plans to open four stores in London before the end of the year, with a further eight to come in 2011.
“People’s lives have changed, great retailers have moved with them and banking should reflect that,” said chief executive Craig Donaldson.
He added: “Metro Bank is going to change the face of UK banking for good.”