The new TSB launches across Britain
The new TSB Bank which has launched today - with more than 4.6 million customers and over £20 billion of loans and customer deposits - is one of the biggest changes ever seen in UK banking as ‘local banking' is brought back to the UK.
Never before has a new bank launched with a nationwide network of 631 branches, four call centres, an award-winning internet bank, mobile banking apps and 8,500 staff with a collective service history of over 100,000 years.
The strength, size and scale of TSB is, however, only part of the story. TSB is pioneering a return to ‘local banking' - a banking model which sees TSB focus solely on supporting economic growth in the communities it serves right across Britain.
TSB is declaring today its commitment to bringing back local banking to Britain and welcomes customers, old and new, who want to see economic growth in the towns and cities where they live and work. Customers of TSB know that every penny of their savings will only fund mortgages and loans in local communities or to help a small business to grow.
Paul Pester, TSB's Chief Executive, says: "TSB bucks the trend in banking. We've gone back to the future by bringing back local banking to UK high streets supported by 21st Century technology.
"We have today launched a bank which has been born fully formed - with over 600 branches, four and a half million customers and over 8,500 staff - TSB is most definitely open for business.
"And let's not forget where we have come from. The TSB movement was originally created over 200 years ago when the Reverend Henry Duncan established the first Savings Bank in Ruthwell, Scotland. Its sole purpose then was to serve the local people in the community. This is exactly what we're doing again today as we bring the new TSB Bank back to over 600 communities across the UK to fuel their local economies - and nothing else."
The creation of the new TSB Bank by Lloyds Banking Group follows a ruling by the European Commission (EC) in November 2009 aimed at bringing more competition to the UK banking market. TSB has been two years in the making and something quite extraordinary has been created.