Coventry completes merger with Stroud & Swindon

Coventry Building Society, the UK's 3rd largest building society, has confirmed today that it has completed its merger with Stroud & Swindon Building Society.

The expanded society will be called Coventry Building Society and will be based in Coventry. Total membership will increase from over 1.2 million to around 1.5 million, and the overall asset size will increase from £18.4 billion to £21.1 billion.

Coventry Building Society, which announced excellent half year results in August, is one of the strongest building societies in the UK. Since the onset of the credit crunch, it has continued to report substantial profits and its strong funding and capital position has enabled it to grow throughout the economic downturn.

Coventry's financial strength will deliver an immediate benefit for many Stroud & Swindon members, who voted overwhelmingly in favour of the merger in June.

It is expected that approximately two thirds of a total of around 250,000 savings accounts will see interest rates improved on completion of the merger to match equivalent products offered by Coventry.

In addition, those borrowing members currently paying or linked to Stroud & Swindon's residential Standard Variable Rate (SVR) of 5.99% will benefit from a substantial reduction in their mortgage payments as they move onto Coventry's lower SVR of 4.74%. This is one of the lowest SVRs currently being offered by any UK building society.

David Stewart, Chief Executive of Coventry Building Society, said "Coventry's performance over the last 3 years has demonstrated the strength of our traditional building society model. I believe that the merger with Stroud & Swindon Building Society will help us build on recent successes and bring the benefits of our prudent and member-focussed approach to a wider membership."